Business is growing in tourism – Kommersant

After a long decline, business travel activity abroad has increased sharply. Their share in the overall demand structure quadrupled in 2023, approaching the pre-pandemic values. This dynamics is due to the return to the Chinese market and increased activity in other Asian and Middle Eastern destinations. Market participants expect the trend to strengthen next year.

Foreign destinations in 2023 formed 22% of business trips of Russians, over the year the figure increased by 16.5 percentage points (p.p.), according to OneTwoTrip for Business. The value has approached the level of pre-pandemic 2019, when other countries accounted for 25% of business trips. In 2020-2021, their share was noticeably lower – 5.3-5.7%.

Vipservice says that foreign destinations accounted for 19% of business tourists’ trips, up 3 p.p. year-on-year. Trivio noted an increase of 6 percentage points, to 17%. At Aeroclub, the number of air tickets sold abroad increased by 48% year-on-year.

First of all, the increase in business trips by Russians abroad is associated with the gradual recovery of the market, an increase in the number of available destinations and the establishment of air services, explains Stepan Mastryukov, head of OneTwoTrip for Business. Managing Director of Corporate Business at Vipservice Galina Polishchuk attributes the growth in outbound activity to the building of new connections, primarily with China, India and Iran. Andrey Baturin, director of the Trivio marketing department, also speaks about the growth in the number of foreign trips due to China and the countries of the Middle East.

China’s share is indeed growing rapidly – essentially from a zero base: in 2022, Beijing accounted for 0.04% of tickets booked by business tourists, this year – 1.9%, according to data from OneTwoTrip for Business. Shanghai’s share reached 3%; a year earlier there were no air flights to this city. Mr. Baturin recalls that this year China also resumed a full-fledged visa issuance process.

However, the most popular business tourism destination, according to OneTwoTrip for Business, remains Istanbul, whose share now amounts to 16.8%. The top 10 destinations for business travelers also included Minsk (8.1%), Almaty (7.2%), Yerevan (7.1%), Tashkent (5.9%) and Dubai (5.2%). Ms. Polishchuk reminds that cities such as Istanbul, Yerevan and Belgrade often act as transit hubs, and not the main purpose of the trip. Marketing Director of the Raketa service Daria Zubritskaya drew attention to a 15% increase in the number of trips to European countries in the second half of the year. Basically, she said, we are talking about Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Greece. The expert noticed a decrease in interest only in Georgia.

The average cost of one-way tickets abroad booked by companies this year, according to OneTwoTrip for Business estimates, amounted to 30 thousand rubles. The average cost of staying in a hotel abroad has not changed – 15 thousand rubles. per day. According to Raketa, the average cost of booked tickets for the corporate segment decreased by 5% over the year, hotels fell in price by 16%, and transfers increased in price by 19%.

The demand for trips abroad has grown most noticeably among representatives of the IT industry, telecommunications companies, and the oil and gas sector, notes Managing Director of Aeroclub Yulia Lipatova. The average duration of business trips is six days.

Daria Zubritskaya, based on the current dynamics of bookings, expects a significant increase in the number of foreign business trips in 2024. This is possible in the absence of drastic economic changes, agrees Stepan Mastryukov. “We can say that next year the emerging trend will continue, despite the still existing restrictions on air traffic,” says Yulia Lipatova. Vipservice expects further growth in business trips of Russians to neighboring countries and Asian countries.

Alexandra Mertsalova