What trends in the transportation services sector dominated 2017? What does the average train passenger look like, and why have travelers become more independent? UFS experts summarize the first results of the year and highlight growing trends. market.
Trends in the development of the transport market
The key news this year is the gradual and confident recovery from the transport industry's crisis, evidenced by the overall increase in passenger traffic, which for the first time in a long time has closely approached 2007-2008 levels. Rail transport figures showed a 61% increase for the first time in four years. The tourism market is showing promising growth: the share of electronic train tickets is growing year-on-year, reaching 401% in early 2017. Compared to 2012, electronic sales have increased by more than a third. This is accompanied by a sharp decline in the popularity of paper tickets.
There's a clear trend toward online ticketing. Passengers are gradually embracing technology and using online check-in, with time savings becoming a top priority. Furthermore, tourists are becoming more self-sufficient: Russians are more willing to plan their trips independently, without the help of operators.
This summer's dominant destinations were St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kazan, and Nizhny Novgorod. Among the most popular domestic resorts, Sochi and Adler topped the list. The travel service UFS.Travel conducted a study, the results of which allowed us to create a profile of the average train passenger. The primary audience is 25-34 years old. Women aged 25 to 54 buy approximately 401,000 tickets. Men aged 55+ buy the most expensive tickets, with their average ticket being 131,000,000 higher.
Today, UFS experts are observing growing interest among travelers in visiting Russian cities due to the active promotion of domestic tourism. According to the company's forecasts, next year, the cities hosting the 2018 FIFA World Cup will take over as leading destinations. The majority of fan passengers will travel between stadiums in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Samara, and other participating cities. And with the completion of the Kerch Bridge at the end of 2018 and improved transportation links in Crimea, an increase in tourists seeking vacations on the peninsula is expected.
When considering the technological aspects of transportation services, it's worth noting the gradual transition from standardized algorithms to systems that "think" like human intelligence. This includes optimal audience segmentation, the creation of personalized content based on Big Data, tracking user actions, and predicting their purchasing behavior. The use of neural networks and machine learning has the potential to fundamentally change the principles of user communication. This is a significant step toward improving the interaction between humans and interfaces.
Another distinctive trend is universal mobilization: people's lives are centered on their smartphones, so planning a trip with a few taps is much more convenient than heading to the train station or loading a browser page. Consumers have begun to respond not only to website and app performance but also to harmonious design, which helps them get into the right frame of mind and immerse themselves in the atmosphere of the upcoming journey.
Positive developments in the bus transportation segment are noteworthy. Buses are a popular alternative to rail transport and cover approximately 851,000 passengers per year for intercity and suburban travel. Currently, Russia lacks a unified electronic bus ticket booking system, so consolidators are working to integrate as many systems as possible and display all their offers in a single search result for their partners. Responding to market needs, UFS launched a bus ticket sales service in 2017.
"Today, travel agencies, bus ticket offices, and individual entrepreneurs can purchase bus tickets through the Electronic Ticket Service from UFS. Ten booking systems are connected to it, giving users access to transportation in 50 regions of the country and neighboring countries," notes Alexey Astanin, General Director of UFS.
Multimodal routes are emerging as another promising area in the transportation system. This segment is just beginning to gain momentum in Russia, and UFS is pleased to be at its forefront. Now, in areas where train service is limited, UFS offers its partners expanded routes from Russian Railways and Federal Passenger Company (FPC). There's no need to purchase tickets for different modes of transport from multiple carriers—they're all available in a single-window system at the "Electronic Ticket Office." Travelers receive a single ticket upon purchase. The new option to book bus tickets has further unlocked the potential of multimodal transportation. Bus routes have become an additional source of revenue for e-ticket distributors.
We'd like to mention multimodal transportation to Crimea separately. Currently, UFS.Travel and the Online Module for partners offer a single ticket that includes three journeys: train, bus, and ferry. Since Crimea is separated from the rest of Russia by the Kerch Strait, access to the peninsula is currently only possible with a transfer.
"Crimea has been one of the most popular holiday destinations for Russian tourists for years now. Since 2014, demand for tickets to this destination has doubled. In 2017, more than 250,000 people chose rail as their mode of transport to the Crimean Peninsula. Therefore, we have strived to make purchasing combination tickets as simple and convenient as possible for our customers," reports Roman Shugaley, director of the online travel service UFS.Travel.
New features of the online service UFS.Travel
In response to the trend of mobilization, in 2017 UFS.Travel redesigned its website and mobile app, "Railway Tickets": the services became faster, more functional, and more harmonious from a visual standpoint.
We've done a tremendous amount of work to optimize every step of the purchase process and make it convenient for the customer. Among the most significant improvements: we've completely redesigned the website, updated the interface of the mobile app for iOS and Android, and launched versions of the website in English, German, and Chinese. We've also added many new useful features. For example, you can now purchase a roundtrip ticket in a single order both on the website and in the Railway Tickets mobile app for iOS. iOS mobile app users can also now add passengers to their travel directory. This means if you've already added someone's details to your travel directory, you won't have to re-enter them the next time you purchase—you can simply select the desired passenger from the list. A similar feature will soon be added to the UFS.Travel website.
"We recently added train ratings to the website—now, before choosing a train, you can check its rating, which is based on over 6,000 collected reviews. Overall, I'd like to note that the redesign allowed us to present the site to users in a completely new way, and thanks to the use of new technologies, we were able to significantly increase its performance, speed, and reduce response times to user requests. And we can say that we achieved our goal: we made the site unique and user-friendly, creating a special travel atmosphere on its pages. Thanks to this, according to our data, users' stay on the site increased by 56%, and the conversion rate to ticket purchases increased by 16%," says Roman Shugaley, director of an online travel service UFS.Travel.
This year, UFS.Travel established itself on the global market thanks to its integration with Google Flights. The company's offerings became available to foreigners traveling or going on business trips within Russia. Another significant achievement for the company was its partnership with the Invoice Box payment platform and PayPal, which became available on both the website and the iOS mobile app in March 2017. Furthermore, with the introduction of the roundtrip itinerary planning feature, UFS.Travel increased the number of tickets per transaction from 1.23 to 1.4.
According to UFS.Travel, the average price for a train ticket ranges from 2,400 to 3,600 rubles, depending on the season and the device used to make the purchase. The average price for an airline ticket ranges from 9,000 to 16,000 rubles.
"Summing up the development of the transport services market, it's worth noting the steady growth of online channels. We also see potential for growth in e-ticket sales at commercial offline ticket offices, amid the declining popularity of carrier ticket offices. Among the trends, the development of multimodal routes and the ability to book electronic bus tickets are particularly notable. The transport services sector is constantly evolving, and to anticipate its needs and keep up with the times, we offer new opportunities for our clients and partners," comments Alexey Astanin.
Source: trn-news.ru