Tourists are booking summer tours in advance due to fears of rising prices for trips abroad and inflation

Due to fears of rising prices for travel abroad and inflationary pressures at home, tourists’ interest in planning their summer holidays early has increased. Tour operators record an increase in sales year-on-year by 20–50%, and booking systems report multiple dynamics. A good start does not guarantee a successful season, but it allows a business to build a positive forecast for the year, counting on an increase in sales by 15–30%.

The number of bookings of organized tours for April-October exceeded the figure for the same period in 2023 by 2.1 times, Travelata.ru calculated. Sletat.ru noticed a fourfold increase in demand. Executive Director of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia Maya Lomidze speaks of an increase in sales by 20–50%, depending on the destination. Fun & Sun reports year-on-year growth of 35%. At Yandex Travel, sales of air tickets to non-CIS countries increased by 46%, and to neighboring countries by 15%. On Ostrovok.ru, by the end of February, the number of foreign bookings for the summer season doubled year on year.

Travelata.ru Marketing Director Oleg Kozyrev associates this positive trend with increased interest in early booking programs. “Many people expect prices to rise in the summer,” notes Maya Lomidze. According to her, as part of early booking, tour operators usually implement up to 30% of the summer program abroad and 20% in the Russian Federation. “These sales do not guarantee positive results for the summer season as a whole, but they indicate that tourists intend to vacation this year,” she points out. In the future, Ms. Lomidze notes, demand will be influenced by macroeconomic factors and currency fluctuations. Fun & Sun expects to send 2.5 million people on tour this year, up from 1.9 million people a year earlier.

The increase in the number of bookings was facilitated by good sales in the Turkish direction. According to Travelata.ru, the volume of tours sold to the country tripled year on year, and Turkey’s share in the sales structure increased from 34% to 49%. OneTwoTrip now accounts for 9.7% of all air ticket sales in the country. A year earlier, sales of tours to Turkey were held back by news of the earthquake and the upcoming presidential elections, but this year early bookings took place in a calmer environment, Fun & Sun said. According to Travelata.ru calculations, the average bill for purchasing a summer tour to Turkey increased year-on-year by 20.6%, to 222.7 thousand rubles.

Egypt, according to Travelata.ru, forms 11% of bookings for the summer, the average check per destination year-on-year increased by 18.6%, to 211 thousand rubles. In the case of the UAE, the average bill increased by 24.2%, to 240.7 thousand rubles, the country’s share is estimated at 7%. OneTwoTrip points to a multiple increase in sales in Asian destinations – to China (6.6% of all foreign bookings for April-October), Japan (7.3%), Indonesia (4.9%) and Vietnam (2.3% ). Thailand also showed positive dynamics, according to Yandex Travel. The average cost of a flight to non-CIS countries, according to the service, increased by 6% year on year, to 54.2 thousand rubles. for round trip tickets. At Ostrovok.ru, the number of bookings in Indonesia for the summer increased by 4.5 times, in South Korea – almost three times, in Thailand – by 88%.

The share of Russia in the structure of sales of organized tours, according to Travelata.ru, decreased over the year from 23% to 14%, and sales of tours for April-October in the Russian Federation increased by 30% year-on-year. The general director of the tour operator Dolphin, Sergei Romashkin, expects an increase in sales in Russia by approximately 15% by the end of the year. According to him, June was previously considered the peak month of sales, but now activity has shifted to February. Mr. Romashkin explains this by inflationary pressure and a shortage of hotel rooms in popular regions, for example, Dagestan and Caucasian Mineralnye Vody.

Yandex Travels talks about an increase in the number of tickets sold within the country by 25% year on year. Ostrovok.ru noticed a 30% increase in sales. On average, tourists book accommodation in Russia for the coming summer, according to MTS Travel, for five days, the average check for the year increased by 16%, to 20.7 thousand rubles. The most popular regions among tourists remain the Krasnodar Territory, St. Petersburg, Moscow, the Kaliningrad Region and Tatarstan.

Alexandra Mertsalova