Sochi froze the New Year

The average cost of living in Russian accommodation facilities for the upcoming New Year holidays increased by 35% compared to last year, participants in the tourist market noted. The most significant increase was in apartments, where the price was higher by a third, especially in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kazan. Residents of the regions consider these cities as an alternative for New Year’s holidays instead of Europe, where travel due to sanctions has become noticeably more complicated. The cost of accommodation in Sochi remains stable.

The average cost of a night in Russian accommodation facilities for the New Year holidays in mid-November amounted to 5.4 thousand rubles, which is 35% more year-on-year, follows from Ostrovok.ru data. The average booking check increased by 81% year-on-year to RUB 19,000, which is explained by an increase in the average length of stay from 2.6 to 3.3 nights. OneTwoTrip estimates an 83.4% increase in the average check. At the same time, the share of bookings for one night this year decreased to 19.8% from 50.1% a year earlier, and the share of bookings for four to seven days, on the contrary, increased from 25.3% to 54.3%, a service representative explains. Elena Shelekhova. According to Travelata.ru, the average cost of a tour in Russia this year increased by 38.1%, to 68.1 thousand rubles.

This growth occurred in spite of the changed booking structure. According to Ostrovok.ru, 20% of demand falls on apartments during the New Year holidays against 8% a year earlier. This situation may be related to the cessation of Booking.com and Airbnb in Russia. “Often, homeowners collaborated with only one platform, and now they have connected to different ones,” Ms. Shelekhova explains. According to Ostrovok.ru, the average cost of living in apartments this year has reached 4.95 thousand rubles. per night, up 32% year-on-year. At the same time, accommodation in three-star hotels increased in price by 4%, to 4.8 thousand rubles. The share of five-star hotels in the structure of bookings for the New Year holidays, according to OneTwoTrip estimates, blurred over the year from 11.5% to 7.3%, and the average cost of accommodation was at the level of 14.7 thousand rubles. per night.

Olga Filipenkova, development director of the Krasnaya Polyana resort, points out that five-star hotels for the holidays are now 95% loaded, and four-star hotels – 75%. The general director of the Dolphin tour operator, Sergey Romashkin, points to an annual growth in demand of 29% for the New Year holidays for all accommodation facilities. Vadim Prasov, Vice-President of the Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers, speaks about the steady demand for the New Year holidays in Sochi, the Moscow and Leningrad regions. In his opinion, there is still a small depth of bookings in hotels in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Although the founder of Ivashkevich Hospitality, Stanislav Ivashkevich, indicates that interest in Moscow has already grown by 20% due to the realization of pent-up demand. He calls the second factor that the inhabitants of the regions consider a trip to Moscow and St. Petersburg for the holidays as an alternative to Europe. This is also indicated by the data of Travelata.ru, according to which the capital entered the top 5 popular holiday destinations this year, forming 11% of sales. According to Ostrovok.ru, the average cost of living in accommodation facilities in Moscow increased by 53% over the year, to 4.9 thousand rubles. per night. The dynamics in Kazan turned out to be more pronounced – 61%, up to 5.8 thousand rubles. Accommodation in St. Petersburg for the holidays has risen in price by 32%, to 4.8 thousand rubles.

Trips to Sochi have not yet risen in price. According to Ostrovok.ru, the average cost of living in the resort increased by 2%, to 5.1 thousand rubles. Travelata.ru notes that the average cost of a winter tour to Krasnaya Polyana this year even decreased from 72,000 to 62,000 rubles. Oksana Bulakh, commercial director of Alean, states that, in general, Sochi is the leader in tourist demand for the upcoming New Year holidays. Confident dynamics, according to her, is also observed in the Caucasian Mineralnye Vody, where the rate of booking is now three times higher than last year’s figures.

Alexandra Mertsalova