Russians paved new trails for the May holidays

“Go without waiting for the price to go up”

The May holidays this year fall from 28 April to 1 May (Sunday to Wednesday inclusive), and then from 9 to 12 May (Thursday to Sunday). Russians are actively buying tours in the period from April 29 to May 13 – this is what domestic tour operators say. Analytics commissioned by the tourism industry confirms that “May” tourism among our fellow citizens has picked up compared to last year. And new items have appeared in the routes chosen by compatriots.

According to analysts, if the top domestic holiday destinations for the May holidays remained stable – these are Sochi and Kaliningrad, then the destinations of Russians’ foreign voyages have expanded.

“Of the usual foreign destinations, Istanbul, Dubai and the Turkish and Egyptian Riviera remain in the top,” the capital’s travel agency assesses demand. – One of the new things is that the demand for Europe has increased. Moreover, taking into account the fact that the transfer is still necessary, many ask to expand it with a short stay in the connecting country. People want not only to board a plane flying to Europe, say, to Tbilisi, but to stay there for 2-3 days, seeing the main attractions. The same is with Yerevan, Minsk and Istanbul, while last year Russians traveling to Europe used these interesting cities only as transfer hubs.

An increase in demand for tours to Europe from 10 to 30% compared to last year is noted by all Russian tour operators working with the EU. The reasons cited are the friendlier visa policies of a number of European countries, which did not exist last year. And also the imminent rise in price of all Schengen visas, which is currently being discussed by the European Commission.

“Visas to the most popular countries among Russians, Italy, Spain and France, are much more realistic and faster to obtain this year than in the past,” notes Evgenia, a travel agent specializing in May excursion tours to European capitals, which were very popular in the Russian Federation before geopolitical disagreements . – In addition, Schengen this year will most likely rise in price and will be 135 euros, although the current 120 euros (80 euros visa fee, 40 euros service fee) are already affordable for Russians. So many people decide to go quickly, without waiting for the price to go up.

A study of the issue shows that the European Commission has indeed proposed to increase the basic fee for a Schengen visa by 12%. If this increase is accepted, the amount of the service fee will also increase. This year it is proposed to increase the basic price of a stamp (visa fee) from 80 to 90 euros for adults, and from 40 to 45 euros for children. And for citizens of those countries “who are not ready to cooperate with the European Union on the return of their citizens expelled from EU countries for illegal migration, visa violations, etc.”, and simply take their illegal refugees who violate the peace of the EU, the cost of a visa is proposed to be raised to 180 euros. Until this happens, Russians are in a hurry to visit both their three favorites (Italy, Spain, France) and Greece, Austria, Portugal and Serbia for the May holidays, since these countries have already demonstrated a “warming” in visa issues for Russian citizens.

Of the new foreign destinations, not counting the “half-forgotten old ones” in the EU, Tashkent, Almaty and Beijing were added to the tourist map of Russians this May. According to analysts, the choice is explained, among other things, by the prices of air tickets: you can fly to all these cities on May for 50 thousand rubles in both directions, and if you diligently “graze” the appearance of cheap tickets, then it will be cheaper. And at destinations for May, it’s already real summer, local prices are not as high as in other tourist destinations, Russians are welcome and there is something to see.

According to analysts, Russians began to fly abroad more often in 2024: on these May holidays, compared to previous ones, compatriots bought 13 times more air tickets to Georgia, 10 times to Belarus, 7 times to Kazakhstan and China, and twice as many more to the Maldives.

Among the popular domestic destinations, as experts note, Vladikavkaz, Yekaterinburg and Gorno-Altaisk have been added to the usual May destinations of St. Petersburg, the Krasnodar Territory, the Russian Baltic, Mineral Waters and Kazan. The average cost of round trip tickets from both Russian capitals is from 11 to 30 thousand rubles.