Tourism gave medical indications – Newspaper Kommersant No. 35 (7480) dated 03/01/2023

The Russians, having lost their usual foreign destinations for holidays, reoriented themselves to rest in sanatoriums within the country. Demand for them for the upcoming spring jumped by a third. This is expected to lead to an increase in the cost of accommodation in health resorts by at least 15%. Most Russians from the center of the country are planning to go to the Caucasian Mineralnye Vody, while the inhabitants of Siberia, due to fear of traveling to the southern regions, still prefer to relax in local sanatoriums.

The number of vacation bookings in Russian sanatoriums for the spring season turned out to be 10-30% higher year-on-year, depending on the region and the level of facilities, Mikhail Danilov, medical director of the Association for Health Tourism and Corporate Health, told Kommersant. The Alean tour operator says that requests for trips to sanatoriums in the off-season increased by 10% year-on-year.

Most often, Russians book holidays in the health resorts of the Caucasian Mineralnye Vody, which is quite explainable by the presence of a large number of such facilities in the region. In the sanatorium segment, the seasonality of demand is less pronounced, so it generally feels more confident than resort and excursion destinations, explains Sergey Romashkin, general director of the Dolphin tour operator.

Mikhail Danilov connects the growing interest of Russians in sanatoriums with the reorientation of tourist demand from foreign to domestic destinations. “The reason is the unpredictability of the geopolitical situation, the consequences of earthquakes and ongoing seismic activity in Turkey, travel restrictions in certain countries,” he notes. Sergei Romashkin considers price growth to be an important factor in redistributing the outbound flow in favor of domestic tourism: “The average check for a trip to Turkey has grown by 50–60%.

Rosa Springs Deputy General Director Ruslan Verdiev says that the demand for spring holidays within the country is one and a half times higher than last year, and for summer holidays three times. This allows us to predict that the load of health resorts will be 10% and 25% higher, respectively. Irina Sokolova, General Director of Rodina Grand Hotel & SPA, expects a 15% increase in occupancy, Nail Shaikhutdinov, Director of the Bakirovo sanatorium, expects a 20-25% year-on-year growth.

Irina Dmitrienko, managing director of the Valuevo sanatorium, says that in January-February, 50% more nights were planned at her facility than in the same period last year. Initially, according to the expert, the business had concerns about the lack of a tourist cashback program this year, but they did not come true.

The director of the Novosibirsk Parus Medical Resort & SPA, Yulia Dyachkova, notes an increase in the number of requests by 10% and expects that the occupancy of the facility in the spring-summer season will be at least 90%. The fact that many customers are not ready to go to the southern regions of the country can ensure good dynamics for the facility, she says.

Sanatoriums managed to increase the depth of bookings. According to Mr. Danilov, if last year it was one or two weeks, this year it varies from two weeks to four to five months. Sergey Romashkin calls the behavior of tourists this year generally more restrained and even. At the beginning of 2022, the negative news background in some periods led to a collapse in sales, he recalls.

High demand for accommodation often drives up prices. Sanatoriums work with dynamic pricing: price changes are always a response to the market reaction, explains Irina Sokolova. Sergey Kholevinskiy, Commercial Director of Upro Group Management Company, notes that the planned tariff increase of 15% is planned for this year. Ruslan Verdiev believes that the cost of rest in health resorts will increase by 10-15%.

However, according to Mr. Romashkin, it would be reasonable to talk about a noticeable increase in the cost if the demand for trips around the country remains at a consistently high level. But this, the expert states, no one can guarantee in the current situation.

Alexandra Mertsalova