The growth in tour bookings for the February and March holidays was insignificant

Despite the overall increase in travel this year, the travel industry has failed to significantly increase sales for the upcoming long weekends in February and March. The negative dynamics in the market are associated with a reduction in the number of trips within the Russian Federation due to the sharply increased cost of flights.

The number of bookings of organized tours with a departure on February 23 decreased by 5–7% year-on-year, Travelata.ru calculated. Analysts also do not note an increase in sales since the March 8 capture. The dynamics stand out from the general trend: in general, in the off-season (February-April) the volume of bookings grows by about 7% year on year.

Sletat.ru says that the number of bookings for the long weekend has increased by 3% year-on-year since February 23, although sales for February-March overall increased by 19%. Intourist noted that sales for the February and March holidays are on average at the level of last year. Fun & Sun sees sales growth of 20% year-on-year compared to the year of tours to other countries. Thus, 29% of the operator’s sales come from Thailand, 24% from Egypt, and 22% from the UAE. Russia accounts for a relatively small share of Fun & Sun – 9%. At Alean (specializing in the domestic market) they are talking about a halving of the number of bookings for February 23, at Dolphin – by 1%.

Travelata.ru Marketing Director Oleg Kozyrev notes that the weekend of February 23 this year is one day shorter than last year. The decrease in the number of purchases, according to him, was observed mainly in domestic destinations: Russia’s share in the overall sales structure over the year decreased from 23% to 11%, the country moved from first to fourth place in the top destinations. The trend is clearly visible in other booking systems. Thus, in OneTwoTrip, Russia accounts for 45% of booked air tickets for the February holidays, and 53% for the March holidays. A year earlier, the figures were estimated at 86% and 70%, respectively.

Intourist representative Daria Domostroeva notes that the number of foreign destinations available to Russians has increased significantly over the year due to the launch of flight programs to Asian destinations. In addition, according to her, in the winter of this year there was a demand for trips to Italy and France. These countries are also in the top 10 in terms of the number of bookings at Ostrovok.ru, where they also see high demand for Thailand, Turkey, the UAE, Japan and post-Soviet countries. Mrs. Domostroeva adds to this the growth in sales in the directions that emerged over the past year – Mauritius, Vietnam, Hainan.

Daria Domostroeva calls rising prices within Russia an additional factor. According to her observations, tourists often seek to rationalize spending, abandoning holiday trips in favor of a summer vacation. Dolphin General Director Sergei Romashkin notes that the cost of transportation for long weekends does not seem affordable to most tourists, since airlines traditionally charge fairly high fares for these dates.

According to OneTwoTrip calculations, a one-way domestic flight during the holidays costs tourists an average of 8.4 thousand rubles. per person. This is 10% more than on non-holidays. Yandex Travels notes that year on year the average cost of tickets in the country increased by 35%, to 13.1 thousand rubles. Flights abroad have risen in price less: to non-CIS countries – by 4% (to 40.8 thousand rubles), to neighboring countries – they have fallen in price by 4% (to 26.5 thousand rubles).

Ostrovok.ru says that hotel bookings for the upcoming holidays cost on average 12% more, or 5.7 thousand rubles. per night. According to the service, tourists spend an average of 27% more on accommodation in Moscow than a year earlier (5.7 thousand rubles per day), in St. Petersburg – by 8% (3.8 thousand rubles) , in Sochi – by 12% (4.6 thousand rubles). The average bill for booking organized tours with a trip to Thailand on February 23, which has become the most popular foreign destination, over the year, according to Travelata.ru, increased by 12.5%, to 259.4 thousand rubles. Trips by Russians to the UAE increased in price by an average of 18.5%, to 208.2 thousand rubles. Flights to Turkey, according to Yandex Travel estimates, increased in price by 9% on average, to 42.8 thousand rubles. for round trip tickets to Armenia – by 12%, up to 29.2 thousand rubles.

Alexandra Mertsalova