The Russians tasted summer Istanbul. In the summer the Turkish metropolis is increasingly positioned as a destination for a short, but full-scaled vacation, where you can find not only excursion programs and shopping, but also a beach.
According to Turkish statistics, for the first 5 months of 2019, Istanbul was visited by 295 thousand citizens of the Russian Federation, which is 18% higher than the figure for the same period in 2018.
In the structure of incoming tourist traffic to Istanbul, the Russians are on the third position, behind Germany and Iran. The TOP-10 of source markets in Istanbul also includes Iraq, France, the United Kingdom, the United States, China, Ukraine and Saudi Arabia.
The Turkish data correlate with the sales of tour operators: the growth in demand for tours to Istanbul began in the spring and gradually shifted to the summer: the sales of summer Istanbul grew among tour operators from 25% to several times.
According to experts, there are several reasons for this. Thus, according to the representatives of Russian Express tour operator, tourists have already “got tired of the resorts of the Antalya coast, where everything are familiar,” and became more interested in the culture and historical heritage of Turkey.
TUI Russia experts agree with this opinion, believing that having rested several times at the beach resorts in Turkey, some tourists return to the country for the historical component. According to TUI, in the summer season 2019, Istanbul's sales increased by 25%, which is, among other things, due to the expansion of own TUI range of hotels and sightseeing tours.
According to the specialists of Intourist tour operator, this trend is connected with the growth of affordable transportation to Istanbul: departures to this destination are now carried out from 18 cities of Russia.
The prices for tours to Istambul are following:
From Russian Express: a tour for 7 nights with accommodation in a 3* hotel will cost 69,759 Rubles (986 Euros) for two persons.
From ANEX Tour: a package tours without excursions with accommodation in a 3* hotel start from 65 thousand Rubles (919 Euros) for two. The package, which includes 2 excursions along the city with the same parameters starts from 72 thousand Rubles (1,118 Euros) for two persons. Combined tour with a week-long vacation at sea in the beach hotel of Istanbul (on HB basis) and accommodation for 4 days in the center of Istanbul (on BB basis) starts from 127 thousand Rubles (1,795 Euros) for two persons.
From TUI Russia: tours start from 42 thousand Rubles (594 Euros) for two persons with accommodation in a 3* hotel.
