Vacation packages are flying around Turkey – Kommersant FM
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The flow of tourists to Turkey has almost returned to pre-pandemic levels. In 2023, Russians made more than 6.3 million trips to the country, according to preliminary data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the republic. This is 20% more than in 2022, but so far 10% less than in 2019. Then citizens visited Turkey more than 7 million times.
Istanbul has the largest increase in popularity; about 2 million Russians visited it. Analysts attribute this trend to the fact that the city is still a major transport hub, but excursion trips there are also in demand.
This year, the number of people who will go to Turkey may increase further, suggests Dmitry Gorin, vice-president of the Russian Union of Travel Industry: “Turkey is No. 1 among foreign outbound destinations, and now we see growth dynamics of 30-50% depending on seasonality and hotel categories. This is facilitated by relative stability and the strengthening of the ruble exchange rate against the euro. Last year, by the way, this was precisely what influenced the price increase.
We plan that in 2024 the number of trips to Turkey will only increase and will certainly exceed the 7 million people per year that were in 2019. This is facilitated by the stability of prices for Turkish hotels, which persists even despite the high inflation rate in the country. Now there are early booking promotions, they give a discount of up to 40% and will last until March.”
Turkey in 2023 was the most popular destination for foreign travel among Russians; the country accounted for about half of all trips abroad, RBC interlocutors estimated.
This year, Turkish hoteliers decided not to raise prices; they will remain at last year’s level, unless there is a strong fluctuation in the national currency, noted Arthur Muradyan, general director of the operator Space Travel and vice president for outbound tourism of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia:
“Now we can focus on last year’s prices, that is, a 5-star hotel for seven nights will cost from 120 thousand rubles. and higher. Popular beach hotels with an all-inclusive package – around 180 thousand rubles. and above for travel.
It seems to me that with early booking promotions continuing, operators are trying to understand purchasing power as much as possible. Of course, the Turkish side is interested in tourists from Russia coming in larger numbers. Their internal Association of Hoteliers and economists even scolded hotel managers a little for last year’s actions, when they raised the price, counting on rush demand.”
At the end of last year, Russians took first place among foreign tourists in Turkey. Travelers from Germany were in second place by the number of trips, travelers from the UK were in third place, with Bulgaria and Iran rounding out the top five.
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