A night's stay in a hotel in Black Sea cities on February 23 and March 8 will cost Russian tourists more than in Moscow and St. Petersburg. This is the conclusion reached by analysts at the online booking service Ostrovok.ru, who analyzed all bookings made for the period from February 21 to March 8. from February 26 to March 7 to March 12, 2019. The average cost of a night in a hotel in Sochi will be 5,500 rubles, in Yalta 5,200 rubles, while in Moscow and St. Petersburg it is 3,900 and 3,800 rubles, respectively.
Felix Shpilman, CEO of Ostrovok.ru, commented: "Despite the fact that the upcoming holidays this year will be slightly shorter than last year, this has not impacted overall Russian tourist activity. We expect a separate surge in bookings 3-4 days before the start of the holidays in cities of the Golden Ring, such as Suzdal, Vladimir, Kostroma, and Yaroslavl. According to our forecasts, the number of bookings for these destinations will increase by at least 30%."
As the company told TRN, the reduction in the number of holidays affected the average planned stay duration, which decreased by one day to 5 days on international routes. This also impacted the average booking price, which for international trips decreased by 17% compared to the same period last year, reaching 29,000 rubles. On domestic routes, the booking duration remained unchanged at 4 days, while the average bill increased by 24% to 14,400 rubles, due to inflation and rising utility costs.
European countries, as expected, remain the most popular destinations during this period, accounting for 651,333 of the top 20 most popular destinations. Travelers traditionally prefer Europe due to its relatively short and affordable flights. The top four most popular countries by number of bookings for the periods February 21–26 and March 7–12, 2019, remained unchanged: Russia, along with Western European countries Italy, Germany, and France, made it into the top 20. Moscow and St. Petersburg once again topped the list of the most popular cities for holiday travel among Russians in February and March.
The popularity of Asian destinations is declining as the end of the tourist season approaches. However, countries in this region remain popular among package holiday travelers.
On domestic routes, the most significant reduction in the cost per night was observed in Kaliningrad - by 26% (2,500 rubles), in Yekaterinburg by 10% (2,600 rubles), and in Krasnoyarsk also by 10% (3,300 rubles).
Tourists make the longest trips within Russia to the capital—the average stay in Moscow is five days. The shortest stays are in Nizhny Novgorod hotels (two days).
On international routes, the most expensive hotels for tourists are Venice (12,200 rubles), London (11,600 rubles), and Vienna (11,300 rubles). The cheapest hotels are Tallinn (3,700 rubles) and Prague (4,300 rubles).
The longest trips tourists make are to Phuket (10 days), Paris (7 days), and the shortest to Tallinn (2 days).
Source: trn-news.ru
