According to a OneTwoTrip survey (1,600 users of the service participated in the survey), 64% tourists want to travel to Egypt in 2018, and 58% of them are ready to organize their trip independently, without waiting for the restoration of charter flights and the start of sales tourist vouchers.
The Red Sea is the most attractive destination for travelers in Egypt (its vibrant underwater world and diving opportunities) – cited by 411 respondents. Egypt's historical heritage ranks second among travelers (261 responses), while all-inclusive hotel accommodations and low cost of travel (both 101 responses) tied for third.
341,333 tourists who don't want to travel to Egypt in 2018 noted that they had already planned a trip to another country. 331,333 respondents were concerned about the low level of security, and 161,333 had visited Egypt before and were not planning a return visit.
"The survey results confirm the high interest of Russians in Egypt. The resumption of charter flights, in our opinion, will allow this country to quickly regain its position in the Russian market. However, judging by the fact that 58% travelers are willing to organize their own tour, and only 10% cited the low cost of a vacation as the main advantage of Egypt, the number of people willing to travel to the Red Sea via rather expensive scheduled flights will also increase," says Anton Kim, Head of Package Tours at OneTwoTrip.
As a reminder, last week Aeroflot and Egypt Air opened sales for direct flights from Moscow to Cairo. The Egyptian carrier also offers through tickets with a transfer in Cairo to seaside resorts. However, this hasn't made flights to the coast cheaper for Russian travelers: Turkish airlines continue to offer the most affordable options with a transfer in Istanbul. While a roundtrip flight on Egypt Air from Moscow to Hurghada or Sharm el-Sheikh from April 22–29 costs approximately 39,000 rubles, Turkish Airlines sells tickets from Moscow to Hurghada via Istanbul for 31,500 rubles, and another Turkish carrier, Pegasus Airlines, offers flights to Sharm el-Sheikh for 29,000 rubles.
Source: trn-news.ru