No flights, no business: travel agency closures soar 34%

The number of travel agencies in Russia is declining sharply. In Q1 2026, company liquidations surged by 34.2% year-on-year to 1,200, while new business registrations remained flat. The total number of travel agency offices across million-plus cities fell by 1.6% to 6,400.

This downturn is driven by a sharp drop in outbound tourism due to flight restrictions caused by the Middle East crisis, forcing agencies to pay large refunds (previously estimated at 19.6 billion rubles) for cancelled tours. A pivot to other segments has proven difficult, with domestic tourism activity down 3–4% and inbound tourism plunging 30–40%.

The data from 2GIS highlights the number of offices in major cities in early May 2026 compared to the previous year.

Cities with a Decline:

• Moscow: Down 4.9% to 1,800 offices.

• Rostov-on-Don: Down 3.8% to 176 offices.

Cities with Growth:

• Krasnoyarsk

• Perm

• Krasnodar

The info is based on the article written by Kommersant magazine.