New Year's demand: low incomes prevent Russians from resting where they like

Among the foreign destinations for the New Year are Thailand, Germany and the Czech Republic. “In the winter the most popular abroad resort is Thailand, but this is largely due to the availability of rest areas in the format of both a package tour and independent travel. Pattaya is cheaper and also easier than Paris for the Russian traveler. Plus the climatic factor - it unites us with the Swedes or the Finns, who also fly to Asia in the winter,” told the PR director of the ticket search service Aviasales Janis Dzenis. Tutu.ru online search service also includes Uzbekistan, Armenia, Georgia, Germany and the Czech Republic in the top of ticket sales. According to Aviasales, the demand for tickets to Paris decreased by 2% compared with the same period last year due to the fears of tourists about the riots. “The Russians are afraid of facing demonstrators on the streets of the city,” said the PR director of the service. According to the Ostrovok service, the average price of foreign hotels for the New Year’s dates is 44.5 thousand Rubles ($ 667), which is 38% higher than a year earlier. Inside Russia it also increased significantly - by 27%, up to 13.8 thousand Rubles ($ 207). According to Level.Travel, the top popular destinations of package tours from tour operators includes Thailand, which accounts 24% of sales, Turkey (14%), Goa (13%) and the UAE (9%). The shares of Goa and Vietnam this year have declined due to rising prices and rising popularity of Turkey. Bahrain, Oman and Gambia, which tour operators have begun to offer this year, are also popular among organized tourists. Aviasales search resource notes that up to 50% of air tickets are booked by Russians at the last moment, a week or ten days before the holidays. “People motivate this by fearing not getting a vacation or by the fact that they will not have money”, said Mr. Dzenis. A similar trend was noticed in Level.Travel. The company believes that this is largely due to the expectation of the opening of Egypt. “People have been waiting for Egypt all year round. If it does not open, many stay at home. So it's too early for us to sum up sales for the New Year. Closer to January sales will grow and we will see people who buy tours to India and other available countries,” the experts say. At the same time, 56% of customers purchase tours less than a month before departure, 20% less than ten days before departure.