Russians often go abroad – Kommersant FM

The number of citizens traveling abroad increased by 20% year on year. The FSB reports this. According to the border service, from January to September, citizens made about 21 million trips abroad. This number includes tourist, business, work and private trips. The top popular destinations are Abkhazia, Turkey, Kazakhstan, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt. Flows to Turkey increased by almost 30%, to the UAE by more than 60%, and to Egypt by 50%. The only European country included in the ranking was Finland. At the same time, the number of visits there decreased by 30%.

The tourist flow itself has increased, noted Artur Muradyan, vice-president for outbound tourism of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia:

“The increase is significant – 30-40%. But here we must understand that it is linear to the number of open direct flights or the increase in carrying capacity on already open ones. We see this in the most popular destinations among tourists – Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Thailand will definitely be among the top by the end of 2023, as air traffic continues to increase. The number of trips across the CIS and the use of airports in these countries for transit has also increased significantly. We can say that the Middle East took over some of the traffic that Istanbul received.

As for popular countries in terms of early bookings, the United Arab Emirates continues to be the leader in the mass segment. The country is targeting a new record for the number of Russian tourists at the end of the 2023-2024 season.

And Thailand, where there is already a shortage of accommodation facilities for peak dates. For example, during the New Year holidays we recorded that 60% of the room stock had already been sold out. Of course, these countries include Egypt, where popular hotels are also quite actively bought up by our fellow citizens, especially during the New Year holidays. The early booking factor is relevant for an expensive destination like the Maldives, since there are also restrictions related to the number of direct flights, seaplane schedules, and, in fact, there are not so many resort hotels.”

According to Yandex, in 2023 the “tours” category accounted for 11% of the total number of search queries. The company notes that by the end of this year the figure should increase, due to the interest of citizens in organized recreation.

According to analysts, hotel services accounted for almost 52% of requests, air tickets – about 16%. Yandex emphasized that, despite such dynamics in search indicators, in fact, approximately 70% of Russian tourists purchase packaged products and services of tour operators. Foreign destinations this year accounted for a third of the total volume of bookings, says Aviasales PR manager Svetlana Likhacheva:

“According to Aviasales, since last year the share of flights abroad has increased by 21%. In the nine months of 2023, overseas destinations accounted for 29% of all bookings, or one in three bookings. The top popular flight destinations included Turkey, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. From further afield, the United Arab Emirates and Thailand made it to the top. Departures peaked in July and August, the traditional high tourist season.

The average price of air tickets changed differently for different destinations. For example, to Turkey in 2023 it amounted to 21 thousand rubles. There and back again. And the average bill for Turkish resorts last year was 35 thousand rubles. Judging by bookings for November and February, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan are in the top. From distant destinations, again, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and China.”

As industry representatives note, despite the positive dynamics compared to last year, the statistics of 2019 are still far away. According to ATOR, the volume of tourist flows to Turkey in 2023 reached only 60% of pre-pandemic indicators.

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Maria Shirokova