Tourists started booking hotels an average of ten days before arrival

Citizens began to book hotel accommodation within the country an average of ten days before arrival. This trend is fundamentally different from the pandemic period, when guests, due to fear of sudden restrictions, bought rooms on the day of check-in. Consumers now fear a shortage of quality value-for-money facilities in popular tourist destinations. Increased booking depth allows hoteliers to adjust rates and plan costs.

In the first quarter of the year, Russians booked stays at domestic accommodations an average of ten days prior to arrival, while a year ago they booked seven days, according to Bnovo (a software operator for hoteliers) data. Travelline estimates the average depth of bookings for January-May of this year at 11 days: the figure increased by 16% over the year, compared to 2019 – by 72.7%. MTS Travel CEO Vadim Melnikov says that his service’s average booking depth in January-May was twice as high as last year, amounting to 12 days. According to Ostrovok.ru, this figure increased by an average of 20% over the year, returning almost to the pre-pandemic level.

According to Bnovo, the highest depth of bookings is now in Kaliningrad – almost 17 days, which is one and a half times higher year-on-year. In Sochi, the growth was 14%, up to 12 days, in Kazan – 40%, up to 11 days. However, in Moscow this figure fell by 1.6% to eight days. The smallest booking window, according to Ostrovok.ru, is now in the Belgorod and Kursk regions, which may be due to the difficult military situation on the border with Ukraine.

A sharp reduction in the depth of sales in the hotel market began during the pandemic. Then guests booked accommodation closer to the date of arrival, Azimut Hotels recall. According to Travelline, in January-May 2020, during the period of the most severe restrictions, hotel rooms were redeemed half a day before check-in.

Now the situation has changed, since the pandemic has ended, in addition, hoteliers are launching customer incentive programs, says Alexandra Naumova, COO of Bnovo. “Domestic tourism is growing, and Russians seek to save on accommodation through early booking,” adds Vadim Melnikov.

The general director of the Dolphin tour operator, Sergey Romashkin, does not exclude that the desire to reserve accommodation in advance is associated with the negative experience of tourists last year, when it was not easy to find places in high-quality facilities during the high season. The second factor he calls the policy of airlines, which are now significantly increasing the fare closer to the date of departure: “This encourages planning a vacation in advance.”

The increase in the depth of bookings coincided not only with the end of the impact of the pandemic on the tourism market, but also with the redistribution of hotelier sales channels. Last year, Booking.com left the Russian market, bringing hoteliers more than 80% of sales through online travel agencies, remind Bnovo. Against this background, the share of sales through such services among hoteliers has generally eroded in favor of direct bookings (see Kommersant on March 23). The transformation of the market, according to Mrs. Naumova, has led to greater variability of tariffs in the market.

Cosmos Hotel Group has not yet seen a noticeable increase in the depth of bookings, but explains that the trend is generally positive for the market: this allows the accommodation facility to more accurately predict occupancy and regulate rates. Stanislav Ivashkevich, managing partner of Ivashkevich Hospitality, explains that the low depth of bookings can lead to higher costs. “Hotels find it difficult to plan ahead for groceries, staffing, etc,” he explains.

But even a good indicator does not guarantee a successful season, recalls Sergei Romashkin. According to him, for example, now sales in some cities are worse than in February – this is an anomalous situation. Mr. Ivashkevich believes that the high occupancy of hotels in large cities could be facilitated by the influx of foreign guests. But, the expert reminds, there are visa, logistical restrictions and difficulties with the work of bank cards.

Alexandra Mertsalova