Russians began to go to distant countries for the winter more often

With the gradual recovery of the outbound tourism market, Russians are returning to their usual routes for long trips during the cold season. The share of non-CIS countries increased by more than 20%, accounting for more than half of sales. At the same time, the share of neighboring countries, on the contrary, decreased by a third. Most often, residents of large Russian cities go “for the winter”, choosing Thailand and Indonesia for travel.

The share of non-CIS countries in the structure of demand for long winter trips lasting more than three weeks over the year increased by 9 percentage points, to 51%, as calculated by Yandex Travel. The share of neighboring countries eroded year on year from 23% to 15%, and domestic destinations decreased by 1 percentage point, to 34%. OneTwoTrip adds that orders with a trip duration of more than three weeks form 16.9% of total sales for November 2023-March 2024.

The increase in interest in trips to foreign countries in winter in Yandex Travel is associated with a general expansion of opportunities for outbound tourism.

According to the FSB border service, the total number of trips abroad by Russians in January-September reached 21 million, an increase of 12.4% compared to the same period last year. This is explained by the gradual restoration of the availability of foreign holidays.

According to Yandex Travel calculations, the average cost of a round-trip flight from Russia to long-distance destinations increased by 16% year on year, to 69.7 thousand rubles. Within the country, the same dynamics amounted to 53%, up to 16 thousand rubles.

The most popular destination for long-term travel in winter is Thailand. According to Aviasales estimates, this country generates 13.3% of the total volume of requests for such trips. A year ago, the country’s share was 2.5 times lower, or 5.63%. On average, winter travelers, according to Aviasales, go to Thailand for 23 days, booking tickets for 74.4 thousand rubles. The cost of a flight year-on-year, according to Aviasales, decreased by 7%.

The outbound tourist flow to Thailand as a whole is showing active growth. According to the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, 992 thousand Russians visited the country in the first nine months of 2023. This is many times higher than the value for the same period in 2022 and is 10.1% higher than in 2019.

The share of Indonesian bookings in the structure of long-term foreign trips, according to Aviasales, amounted to 2.65%. On average, tickets to the country and back cost Russians 95.7 thousand rubles. This is 4.5% lower than the same period last year. OneTwoTrip adds that Bali remains the main attraction for Russians in Indonesia. Denpasar, according to the service, accounted for 10.3% of long-term air bookings.

According to OneTwoTrip calculations, Vietnam and Sri Lanka are also popular wintering destinations among Russians. Aviasales analysts also include India among them.

Most often, residents of large Russian cities leave for the winter. According to Yandex Travel estimates, 62.9% of air tickets booked for a period of three weeks or more are from Moscow residents. 10.5% of demand comes from residents of St. Petersburg, 5.1% from Novosibirsk, 4.7% from Yekaterinburg, 3.4% from Irkutsk.

Alexandra Mertsalova