International airfare sales for the upcoming New Year holidays have shown a significant increase. Meanwhile, domestic destinations have declined in popularity.
As reported to the Travel Russian News correspondent by the Biletix company, the level of early sales The number of international air tickets sold during the upcoming New Year holidays has increased significantly compared to the same period last year, exceeding the figures for the past three years. For example, while last year's share of international air tickets sold from January to September for the New Year holidays was 581,000, this year it was 671,000. The share of domestic destinations, accordingly, decreased from 421,000 to 331,000.
"More tourists prefer to book more expensive international flights in advance and domestic ones at the last minute. Closer to the departure dates, the statistics shift in favor of domestic destinations. This is a normal situation, which we've observed since we began tracking flights in 2011. However, this year, the share of early sales for New Year's holidays abroad has increased significantly, by 9 percentage points. This is most likely due to increased currency volatility and Russians' desire to hedge against further price increases," explained Igor Konstantinov, Commercial Director of Biletix, an online travel service.
Meanwhile, the cost of New Year's air tickets within Russia and internationally has increased compared to last year. According to the company, the average price for early bookings of round-trip flights within Russia from January 1 to 10, 2019, increased from 6,511 to 8,738 rubles, an increase of 341 rubles. International flights increased from 19,837 to 22,490 rubles, an increase of 131 rubles.
The most popular destinations for the New Year holidays are currently Sochi, Tel Aviv, Simferopol, Bangkok, Prague, Dubai, Delhi, Kaliningrad, Tbilisi, and Istanbul, according to Biletix statistics.
Source: trn-news.ru