It is estimated that a week of rest in Russia costs more than 86 thousand rubles.

Every summer, a real battle flares up between lovers of seaside holidays and those who prefer active sightseeing tourism: some seek to explain to others at all costs that they are resting wrong! Of course, everything is decided by personal preferences, but there is also impartial statistics – and it reports that in the summer of 2023, Russians are more likely to choose excursions rather than resorts. This conclusion was made by specialists of one of the service for the selection of rental apartments, one of the favorite accommodation options for tourists.

Among the cities suitable for excursion tourism, Moscow traditionally leads: it accounts for 29% of the total potential demand, St. Petersburg – 24%. Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod and Yekaterinburg are also in demand. The cities on the coast of the Krasnodar Territory account for 7.5% of all demand, and there most tourists have chosen Sochi. Rounding out the top 10 popular locations are Yalta, Gelendzhik (1.3% each) and Krasnodar (1.2%).

“The structure of demand by directions has changed somewhat compared to last year. The most noticeable decrease in the share of Crimean resorts – if last year Crimea and the resorts of the Krasnodar Territory accounted for an approximately identical number of user requests (6.9% and 5.3%), now the ratio has changed (7.5% and 2.7%) . The share of St. Petersburg has noticeably increased (from 21% to 24%), the shares of such destinations as Dagestan, Karelia, Caucasian Mineralnye Vody and the Elbrus region, the cities of the coast of the Kaliningrad region, have slightly increased, ”the service study says.

The decrease in demand for Crimean resorts is very easy to explain: firstly, for almost two years now, planes have not been flying there (and long train trips do not suit everyone), and secondly, due to the proximity of the NWO area, people do not feel at ease there. complete security. Well, anxiety, even hypothetical, overshadows the rest. This trend is confirmed by tour operators: according to their data, Crimea was not included in the top 10 bookings for July.

Such statistics, of course, cannot be considered completely objective: out of sight are all those who stay in hotels on vacation (or even buy a ready-made tour from an agency), and do not rent apartments. In addition, there is a nuance: just on the coast, hotels are often more in demand than in cities, because. people who come to the sea want to get all the usual package of services – the hotel area with sun loungers and a swimming pool, a buffet, animation and everything else. In cities suitable for sightseeing tourism (Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Yaroslavl, etc.), the situation is different, and there people turn to rented apartments more often.

However, a change in the preferences of Russians also takes place, although more often this is not a trend, but personal situations.

“I really refused the sea this summer and preferred to go on a tour along the Volga – to see Nizhny, Samara, Saratov, Kazan … Although I love the sea. However, at work I was told that any trips abroad, even to Turkey, are undesirable for employees, and I myself do not want to go to Russian resorts. I heard that everyone brings diarrhea and rotaviruses from there. So this summer I swam in the Volga, ”a 35-year-old Muscovite named Sergey told the MK correspondent.

By the way, “Volga hedonism”, the quintessence of which was Samara, is gaining popularity. Samara has recently created an image of a resort city, where you can relax and swim on a sandy beach even in the city center.

Many Russians choose alternative resorts – not seaside, but, for example, Caucasian mineral waters (Kislovodsk, Pyatigorsk, Yessentuki) or thermal resorts in Tyumen and Yekaterinburg. On KVM, the average price of an apartment for rent is 3,400 rubles per day.

Among those who still do not want to give up the sea, but do not want to go south for some reason, the Baltic is popular – the beaches of Svetlogorsk, Zelenogradsk, Yantarny and other cities of the Kaliningrad region. By the way, it was there in the summer of 2023 that the highest prices for apartments for rent were recorded: an average of 5,800 rubles per day. The highest rates in Zelenogradsk are 6000 rubles per day, in Yantarny and Svetlogorsk you can relax for 5500-5600 rubles per day.

“I would never have thought of Tyumen as a city for recreation, if in the spring I had not been sent there on a business trip, and the locals would not have told me about the thermal springs,” said 28-year-old Muscovite Polina. – On a business trip, I managed to swim there only once, but then I decided that I would come on vacation. Great! And the nature of Siberia is very cool.”

Meanwhile, the Association of Tour Operators of Russia named the TOP-5 most booked destinations in Russia for city tours. The clear leader is St. Petersburg. This is followed by Moscow, Kazan, the cities of the Golden Ring and Nizhny Novgorod. According to the summary estimates of tour operators, the demand for city tours and weekend sightseeing tours in Russia in the summer of 2023 increased by 15-20% compared to last year. As experts explain, this trend is not accidental: most tourists cannot afford to spend the entire vacation on a trip, and therefore people are increasingly breaking their vacation into several periods, in one of which they travel to domestic destinations.

The average duration of tours in Russia in July is 7.23 nights, the average tour bill: 86,900 rubles. (here it is necessary to take into account a large share of purchases of tours without a flight).