Citizens are actively going to Asia for the New Year holidays

Adaptation of demand and expansion of flight programs are contributing to the growth in demand for trips abroad during the New Year holidays. Relative to 2022, tourist activity increased by 50%, despite an average increase of 20% in travel expenses. The key driver of demand was Asian destinations, in particular Thailand.

The average check for booking organized tours abroad for the New Year holidays increased by 17.9% year on year, to 271 thousand rubles, Travelata.ru calculated. According to Sletat.ru, prices increased by 20% on average, to 237 thousand rubles. The cost of travel increases with active demand. Sletat.ru and Let’s Fly talk about an increase in activity by 50% on foreign destinations. Travelata.ru estimates sales growth at 54%.

Self-bookings have a similar dynamic. According to Yandex Travel, demand for tickets to non-CIS countries increased by 38% year-on-year, and the average bill increased by 20%, to 65.7 thousand rubles. Ostrovok.ru notes a 10% increase in the number of bookings abroad compared to the same period last year.

Vice-President of the Russian Union of Travel Industry Dmitry Gorin attributes the overall positive dynamics to the gradual adaptation of demand, stabilization of the situation with the issuance of visas in certain destinations and the expansion of flight geography. But the outbound tourist flow is still about 30% behind the 2019 level, he notes. OnlineTur.ru representative Igor Blinov names Asian countries as the main driver of demand, where the geography of flights has expanded noticeably over the past year. Thailand, according to Sletat.ru, for the upcoming holidays turned out to be the leader among foreign destinations with a share of 17%, which is three times more than a year earlier. Vietnam also showed a fivefold increase, although the country does not yet form a significant share in the sales structure.

The average cost of a sold tour to Thailand in Travelata.ru is estimated at 390.4 thousand rubles, which is 43.7% more than a year earlier. In the company, the main volume of foreign bookings comes from the UAE: the country’s share over the year increased from 17% to 22%, and the average check increased by 7.6%, to 286.9 thousand rubles. Expenses for trips to Egypt, which is in third place, for the year, according to Sletat.ru calculations, increased on average by 13%, to 209 thousand rubles.

Turkey is the leader in the structure of booked air tickets for Yandex Travel; the average cost of a flight there for the holidays over the year decreased by 7%, to 47.1 thousand rubles.

The average cost of accommodation in Turkey, according to Ostrovok.ru, increased by 33% year on year, to 10.7 thousand rubles. per day. The growth in the figure may be partly due to the popularity of Istanbul, which analysts from MTC Travel and Bronevik.com call the most popular city in Turkey for the holidays. Thailand’s popularity in the self-booking segment is also growing. OneTwoTrip representative Elena Shelekhova points out that Bangkok’s share in the structure of tickets sold for the New Year holidays over the year increased 2.5 times, to 6.2%, and Phuket doubled, to 5.6%.

European destinations remain among the most popular destinations, despite limited availability for travelers. Italy, according to Ostrovok.ru, took fourth place among foreign countries in terms of the number of accommodation bookings for the New Year holidays, France – ninth place. The average cost of a night in these countries over the year increased by 41%, to 12 thousand rubles, and 35%, to 13.5 thousand rubles, respectively. Yandex Travels also noticed a multiple increase in the number of hotel bookings in Hungary, which ranked 14th in demand among foreign destinations.

Vice-President of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia Sergei Romashkin says that the most popular domestic destinations for the New Year holidays are Moscow and St. Petersburg, the interest in which during this period is higher than in the Krasnodar Territory. The average cost of a booked night in Moscow for the holidays, according to Ostrovok.ru, over the year increased by 28%, to 6.3 thousand rubles, in St. Petersburg – by 19%, to 5.6 thousand rubles. In Sochi, the average bill increased by 24%, to 6.3 thousand rubles.

Alexandra Mertsalova