"The demand for tours for May holidays among Russians has grown significantly this year - by 20-25%. Most often, Russians choose beach, sightseeing and combined vacations. The main trend is trips with family, so the average duration of vacation is 7-10 days, and The preferred type of food is “all inclusive,” the Biblio-Globus company said.
Türkiye breaks records
Turkey topped the sales list for the May holidays for tour operators Coral Travel and Intourist, with the growth rate of early bookings compared to last year for Coral Travel amounting to 40%. Popular Turkish resorts for the May holidays include Alanya, Antalya and Dalaman. "Hotels with a good price-quality ratio are in demand in Alanya, they are more economical than Belek, Side and Kemer. Previously, demand was distributed more evenly," said Marina Makarkova, head of the public relations department for tour operator Coral Travel.
The regions most popular with Intourist are Antalya, Dalaman and Marmaris. "The excursion Istanbul has also burst into the ranks of the 2019 leaders, pushing aside the excursion tours to Italy and the Czech Republic, which are traditionally popular during the May holidays," the company reported.
At the same time, tours to the most popular hotels in Antalya and Marmaris with Russians have already been sold out by the tour operator. "On certain dates of arrivals for the May holidays, there were also no seats left on flights to Antalya by Rossiya and Red Wings airlines," the press service added.
The minimum cost of a tour for the May holidays to Turkey starts from 20 thousand rubles per person, including flight, transfer and hotel accommodation with all-inclusive meals.
Russia is the main competitor
Turkey is also popular for the May holidays for the tour operator Biblio-Globus, but Russia takes the lead. The average bill for a week-long tour for two to Sochi is 36.1 thousand rubles, to Turkey – 64.3 thousand.
Tours around Russia for the May holidays are also in demand from the tour operator Intourist – primarily to Sochi and Crimea. With a flight, a trip to Crimea will cost 33 thousand rubles per person for a week, to Sochi – from 17 thousand.
For independent travelers, Russia is beyond competition. According to the Aviasales air ticket search service, sales of domestic flights for the May holidays account for 62% of all bookings.
“The top destinations are Moscow (average bill 6.9 thousand rubles) and St. Petersburg (9.2 thousand), as well as Simferopol, Krasnodar, Kaliningrad, Mineralnye Vody, Rostov-on-Don, Kazan and Yekaterinburg,” said the service’s PR director, Janis Dzenis.
Alternative directions
All surveyed tour operators also listed Greece and the UAE as top destinations for travel during the May holidays. In Greece, the islands of Crete, Rhodes and the Halkidiki region are in demand. In addition, tours to Thailand, Tunisia, Cyprus, as well as excursion Europe (Czech Republic, Italy) are in demand.
The average bill for a tour to Greece in Coral Travel is 46.6 thousand rubles per person, to Tunisia - 33.2 thousand, to the UAE - 78.4 thousand, to Thailand - 60.4 thousand. At the tour operator "Biblio-Globus" the average bill per person for a week in Greece is 54 thousand rubles, to Thailand - 52 thousand, to the UAE - 70 thousand rubles.
In addition, experts reported an increase in demand for Egypt, despite the fact that it is still impossible to reach the Red Sea resorts by direct flights from Russia.
"Egypt is showing good dynamics, it is in seventh place among popular "May" destinations. If six months ago tours to Egypt were booked sluggishly, then starting from November we have noted positive dynamics. Russians are ready to go to Egypt even despite the fact that tour operators are currently offering options with a stopover in third countries or with a long transfer to resorts from Cairo airport," the United Network of TBG and "Hot Tours" reported to the Interfax-Tourism portal.
Georgia, Italy, Turkey, Germany and Spain are popular among independent travelers during the May holidays. You can fly to Tbilisi from Russia for the May holidays for an average of 15.8 thousand rubles. Air tickets to Italy will cost 17.5 thousand, the most popular city is Rome. A flight to Istanbul or Antalya costs about 18.5 thousand.
"Germany and Spain are in fifth place in popularity. Tourists are equally buying plane tickets to Berlin and Barcelona. On average, such a trip for the upcoming May holidays will cost 15 thousand and 19 thousand rubles, respectively," concluded J. Dzenis.
The May holidays this year will last a record long time: the break between the weekends of May 1-5 and May 9-12 will be only three days. Earlier, the executive director of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) Maya Lomidze reported the Interfax-Tourism portal that, thanks to the long weekend, sales of tours for the May holidays in 2019 increased by 50-60% for some tour operators.
Source: tourism.interfax.ru
