After the huge success of early booking promotions in winter and spring 2018, tour operators expected the same high demand for summer tours, but it turned out to be more modest - due to rising prices, the World Cup and other factors. At the same time, according to experts, there is no There is no catastrophic drop in sales – program adjustments concern individual destinations and individual departure cities.
Türkiye breaks all records
The growth was especially noticeable in the Turkish direction. Thus, in the Coral Travel company, compared to the summer of 2017, the volumes for Turkey increased by 15%. Let us recall that in the first six months, the tourist flow from Russia to Turkey increased by 40.5% compared to the same period last year, the country was visited by 2.378 million Russians. In June alone, almost 1 million Russian tourists vacationed in Turkey.
However, Coral Travel reported a reduction of 19% of the planned flight program to Turkey – demand was lower than expected. “In some cities, chains were cancelled, in others, one-time flights – the changes affected about half of our departure cities, there are 40 of them in total,” Marina Makarkova, head of the tour operator’s public relations department, told the Interfax-Tourism portal.
Demand has grown, but more was expected
Anex Tour reported that they have not observed a decrease in demand for vacations abroad. "It is possible that the increase in demand for each individual destination is slightly less than expected, but overall the growth dynamics of Russians leaving is positive," the press service reported.
The company has reduced its programs to Tunisia due to insufficient demand from some regions, in particular, Krasnodar, Perm, Chelyabinsk, and Kazan. Turkish resorts are more popular in these cities. "Special offers from hotels may appear as a stimulus for retail and the end consumer, but this is situational," the company noted.
In turn, the tour operator Biblio-Globus has seen an increase in demand for tours this summer compared to last year's figures. Among the most popular destinations are Russia (+15%), Turkey (+74%), Tunisia (+72%), Spain (+30%), Abkhazia (+41%), as well as Cyprus, Greece, Montenegro and Italy.
The company's press service noted that promotions and special offers for popular destinations are valid throughout the summer season - in particular, we are talking about discounts on accommodation of 20-30%. "At the same time, in the UAE, the Dominican Republic, and Thailand, "low season prices" are in effect at this time of year, and discounts on accommodation reach 50%," the press service reported.
Coral Travel saw sales growth in Spain of 10%, Tunisia of 5%. Sales in Greece fell slightly by 6%.
Demand swings
Tour operators' high expectations for the summer season can be explained by the huge success of early booking promotions, which began unusually early this year - for some tour operators back in August 2017. Already in November, market participants reported a significant increase in the number of bookings, especially for Turkey, which accounted for up to 40% of all sales.
According to the results of the promotion in Coral Travel, the results of early booking in Turkey were ahead of last year's figures by more than 100%. In the Tez Tour company, sales increased more than 4.5 times, the demand was very high until mid-June.
Early booking discounts reached 20-45%, and after the end of the promotions, prices began to grow. In particular, Coral Travel reported an increase in prices for holidays in Turkey this summer by 25%: the cost of hotels increased by 15-17%, air travel - by 10-11% due to the rise in fuel prices. The Intourist company also noted that prices in the Turkish direction are stable and only grow as the peak of the beach season approaches.
According to tour operators, the World Cup also had an impact on summer sales: many Russians wanted to watch the matches at home. Tez Tour believes that the demand for Turkey, deferred due to the 2018 World Cup, is shifting towards the velvet season and lower prices (September-October).
According to Dmitry Gorin, adviser to the head of Rostourism, this summer season will be more successful than last year, one way or another – the organized tourist flow abroad will grow by at least 10%. “Tours for July and August are now being sold at last year’s level. Tour operators have overestimated demand and are adjusting programs for 10-20%. This helps them avoid risks, and dumping, which is currently present, will leave the market. Large market players manage their airlines and have quotas in hotels. Now they regulate them calmly, it’s not a problem,” he said on the RBC TV channel.
According to Rosstat, the number of foreign trips by Russians in the first quarter of 2018 amounted to almost 8 million, which is 11.5% more than in the same period a year earlier.
Source: tourism.interfax.ru
