The demand for New Year holidays in Southeast Asia, particularly in Thailand, has increased significantly compared with the previous year, said representatives of the tourist industry interviewed by TASS. For example, the press service of Intourist said about the increase in demand for tours to this destination tenfold.
Intourist recorded increased demand for New Year's tours both in domestic and outbound directions. But there was redistribution of tourist flows within destinations. Thus, the number of tours to Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka and Maldives has increased tenfold compared to the previous year. However, due to lack of direct transportation from Russia the number of Caribbean destinations decreased, the company said.
According to Intourist data the most popular foreign destinations during New Year holidays were Egypt, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Sri Lanka.
Tours to Thailand were in first place in popularity at Anex Tour. Also tours to the UAE, Egypt, Sri Lanka and India were in demand among the tour operator's clients. According to the company, the opening of Thailand, India and Sri Lanka significantly affected the distribution of demand. Thailand, which was closed for mass tourism for three years, is one of the most popular destinations among Russians.
Overall, demand for New Year's travel abroad, according to Anex Tour, is up 23% from a year earlier. In Fun&Sun the demand for foreign trips in New Year remained at the level of the previous year. The most popular among the company's clients were tours to Egypt (26%), UAE (31%), Turkey (11%), Thailand (10%), Sri Lanka and Maldives (2% each), the press service said.
Interest in foreign trips offered by Sletat.ru decreased by 23% over the year, with a significant decline in reservations only for one destination - Egypt got 2.5 times fewer applications this year, the service's press-service said. The main reason for such dynamics was the cancellation of the flight program of one of the key carriers. Nevertheless, the country is at the head of the top five most popular destinations for the clients of Sletat.ru during the analyzed period with an indicator 32% of the total number of requests by the company. Turkey is next in the ranking with the share of requests a little over 20%, the UAE - 17.5%, Thailand - over 14%, Sri Lanka - 5%.
Domestic tourism
Demand for New Year holidays in Russia has increased by 7-30% over the year, said representatives of the industry. Most often Russians booked trips to the Krasnodar region and, in particular, to Sochi. St.Petersburg, Moscow and Kazan were also in high demand.
The clients of Anex Tour actively booked tours to Kaliningrad and Baikal. In Fun&Sun they reported on demand for tours in Karelia, Dagestan and Sheregesh. Intourist reported on demand for New Year trips to the Crimea.
Duration of vacation and prices
The average duration of New Year's tours in Russia, according to Intourist, increased from three to four nights, tours abroad - from eight to ten nights. As Anex Tour noted, the average duration of tours in Kazan was three nights, in Kaliningrad and St. Petersburg - four, in Sochi and Baikal - six. In Thailand and India tour operator's clients spent on average 11 nights, in Sri Lanka - nine, in the UAE and Egypt - seven.
The price increase on New Year holidays in Russia and abroad was 4-8% depending on the destination, added in Anex Tour.
Sletat.ru recorded an increase by 14% in average cost of New Year tours in Adler compared with last year, up to 35.5 thousand rubles, in St. Petersburg - by 65%, to 34.7 thousand rubles, in Krasnaya Polyana - by 29%, to 122.3 thousand rubles, in Moscow - by 9%, to 39.4 thousand rubles, in Sochi - by 4%, to 59 thousand rubles. The average cost for tours in Egypt during the year increased by 28% to 176.1 thousand rubles, in Turkey - by 17%, to 115.1 thousand rubles, in the UAE - by 21%, to 247.8 thousand rubles.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: PxHere/CC0
Based on materials from TASS