Business travelers increasingly choose Armenia and Belarus for business trips

Experts from Aeroclub business tourism agency analyzed airline reservations made by business representatives from Russia over five years, and found out what trends changed in business trips to neighboring countries in 2019. 
One of the main factors causing the fluctuations in demand this year was the political conflict with Georgia and the suspension of direct flights to this country in July. Nevertheless, according to experts, if we consider the overall dynamics for the year, the demand for this destination fell by only 15% compared with the three quarters of 2018. In June, before the aggravation of relations with Georgia, the demand for airline tickets to this region was 70% higher than a year earlier, and in July-August, the decline in demand was 76%. 
Many business travelers, who refused to travel to Georgia, drew attention to alternative destinations. Thanks to this, the demand for flights to Armenia from July 8 increased by 48% compared to last year. Also, interest in Belarus continues to grow. The total demand for airline tickets for business trips to Belarus increased by 35% compared to the same period a year earlier. As for Armenia, experts note the increased interest for this country from pharmaceutical companies. Over the past year alone, the number of business tourists from pharmaceutical companies in Armenia has grown 10 times. 
According to the study, in 2019 Kazakhstan traditionally is on the first position in the top five most popular countries of the near abroad for business trips. The share of business travelers choosing this country in 2019 was 25%. Further in decreasing order of ranking are: Belarus, Uzbekistan, Ukraine and Georgia. 
According to the study, last year the demand for tickets to Uzbekistan grew by 56%, and the share of trips to this country in the total number of business trips to neighboring countries reached 15% and remained at this level in the current year. 
Ukraine and Georgia, two countries that haven’t direct connection with Russia, show a significant decrease in demand compared to last year. The demand for airline tickets to Ukraine fell by 25% compared to the same period last year, and the share of business travelers to this country amounted to 9%.