May tourism without a visa: it turned out where Russians will spend the spring holidays

Of the dozen destinations proposed by tour operators for the long May holidays, the majority of Russians chose five. We learned what mainly motivates the “May” tourist in our troubled times.

3 weeks before the “double” May holidays, between which many take time off, Russians proved with numbers: despite prices and unsafe conditions in many parts of the world, interest in long-distance travel among compatriots has not gone away. The tourism industry adds an observation to the statistics: the geography of our tourist’s vacation this May is based not only on the traditional price/quality ratio and the already familiar analysis of logistics (so that there is no more than one transfer), but also on not wasting precious time, effort and money to obtain a visa.

According to the Passport Index directory (international index of passports of all countries of the world), in 2024, citizens of the Russian Federation will be able to enter 119 countries of the world without a preliminary application or visa, among which there are some interesting from a tourist point of view, as well as those with direct flights to the Russian Federation. Taking as the upper price limit 300 thousand rubles for two per week with a direct flight from the Russian Federation and back included in this price, leading domestic tour operators have listed the 10 most suitable foreign destinations for the end of spring: these are Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Thailand, Egypt, Cuba, Sri -Lanka, Vietnam, Maldives, Indonesia (Bali) and neighboring countries. For all these destinations, Russians either have a “visa-free” visa or a visa is issued at the airport upon arrival. By the end of the first week of April, it became clear that compatriots took advantage of only four of the ten offered (41% of the total sales of foreign tours for May from Turkey, 14% from Egypt, 16% from the UAE, 5% from Thailand). We, like our native tourism industry, became interested in the reasons.

“The “near abroad countries” meant the republics of Central Asia,” explains Elena, a travel agent who works with the products of one of the leading tour operators. – They “fell off” after the tragedy of March 22, although before that, to be honest, they were not in much demand. We all know that there is no sea there, but only a few people know about the advantages like Issyk-Kul and high-mountain lakes. As for the other items of the unclaimed half of the “hot ten,” this is, of course, a disappointment for a travel agent. To be honest, it is more profitable for us to sell products to countries where tourists have nothing to do outside the hotel, and we have no competitors in the form of street travel agencies, as, for example, in the Maldives. Well, either it’s so obviously dangerous that the tourist himself understands it and doesn’t bother, as in Latin America. However, with quite competitive prices for these destinations, Russians clearly do not want to make long flights during the short May flights.

The figures confirm what has been said: Cuba, at a price of 228 thousand rubles for two for a week in a five-star all-inclusive hotel with an included flight for May, was not sold out, and even the service of Russian cards did not save it. Although the same week in sold-out Thailand costs 174 thousand rubles for two in a modest three-ruble note without all-inclusive, the flight there is 4 hours shorter (to Thailand from Moscow about 9 hours with a direct flight, to Cuba about 13 hours).

“I don’t want to offend Cuba, it’s very beautiful there and the people are friendly,” shares her thoughts with Muscovite Veronica, who chose Thai Phuket for almost the same money for a May holiday, “but the service in Cuba and Thailand can’t even be compared, and I’m going on holiday with children. In addition, in Phuket May is the end of the season, everything is cheaper, including street food and sun lounger rentals, there are much fewer people, and that’s all we need.

About the same with the Maldives, Vietnam and Sri Lanka, with the cost for a week for two with flight respectively 260 thousand rubles (Maldives “four”), 250 thousand rubles (Vietnamese Pacific Riviera) and 210 thousand rubles (east coast of Sri Lanka) , where the season is in May). Despite the fact that Egypt, the UAE and Turkey, which were bought up by compatriots for May, with “five-star” accommodation are almost no cheaper, travel time decided everything here: it takes 8-10 hours to fly to the Maldives and Sri Lanka from Moscow, and to southern Vietnam, where in May the most season, and more than 15 hours.

As for those who chose boring, but proven destinations like Turkish and Egyptian “all inclusive” and Emirati city budget “three-ruble hotels” for their May holiday, their reasons are also not new. In Turkey and Egypt, the weather is just right and everything is ready, and from cheap city hotels it’s easy, inexpensive and safe to explore the whole country on your own.

“We are with children, and in Turkey in May there is still no sweltering heat, we can alternate the beach with excursions,” a family from Moscow explains their choice. – Children love water parks, and there are just two hotels with slides that opened after renovation. Not hotels, but the whole city. And the children have fun, and we are comfortable with everything ready, our heads don’t hurt about anything.

Although this family paid for a week on the Turkish Riviera the same amount as the vaunted luxury Maldives asked for – 260 thousand rubles, however, in the Turkish version this includes two children, and the flight is 6 hours less.