New Year's flights to the Emirates are sold by half

Demand for tours to the UAE, which noticeably intensified last year, when visa formalities were abolished for Russian tourists, continues this year. However, if the UAE last winter showed the most robust growth (53.7% in 2017 compared to the previous year), there are fears that this winter will not be able to achieve such success. According to the official statistics of Border Service of FSB of the Russian Federation, for the first three quarters of 2018 the volume of outgoing flow to the UAE increased by 42.5% (661,695 citizens of the Russian Federation visited the Emirates in January-September of this year, against 464,329 in the same period 2017). Growth rate is impressive, although it is lower than last year's record. Tour operators, acting on the destination, differently assess the dynamics of sales volumes. Biblio-Globus tour operator reports that the demand for the UAE for the autumn-winter dates already exceeds the figures of the same period of the last year by 64%, so the tour operator speaks about a more successful season as a whole. Sales of Pegas Touristik tour operator also have a good depth. “The nearest tours are almost completely sold out. New Year's flights are already half full,”- told the company. The high popularity of the UAE as a New Year's trend is confirmed by the results of a survey of tour operators - the Emirates entered the TOP 3 of the most popular New Year's destinations among tourists. Tour operators also believe that the demand for the UAE will not be affected by the potential competitors - Qatar, Oman and Bahrain, which in this winter season will also open the fight for the Russian tourist.