Flights and tourist traffic from Russia amidst pandemic (weekly update)

According to the preliminary schedule of Russian tour operators, charter programs are planned from four cities - Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan and Yekaterinburg. In case of restoration of air service charters will fly to 4 regions of the Dominican Republic: Punta Cana, Puerto Plata, Samana and La Romana.

The decision to ratify the abolition of the visa regime with Russia was adopted by the Chamber of Deputies of the Dominican Republic.

Russian tourists in January and February 2020 were in the first place in terms of the number of passengers arriving at the resorts of the Dominican Republic on charter flights.

This week, retail received messages from Russian tour operators with announcements of early booking for the autumn-winter period of 2021.

In 2020 Russia became the third largest source market in the world and first among European countries with 1 million visitors over the past four years.

For 9 months of this year the tourist flow from Russia to the Dominican Republic showed a significant decrease - minus 27%. However, operators do not notice a drop in demand.

The first 9 months of this year were difficult for the Russian tourist flow to the Dominican Republic – Russian tourists came here a little less than last year. This year tour operators increased their volumes due to new regional departure points.

The desire to spend the New Year on exotic islands is increasing among Russians despite on the economic situation. A lot of hotels offer accommodation for New Year dates on favorable conditions.

Press service of the international airport Koltsovo in Ekaterinburg informed that 25.10.2019 the first flight to Dominicana took off. La – Romana is the arrival port in Dominicana for this program. Azur air company uses Boeing 777-300ER aircraft with total seats number — up to 531, with business class (7-42 seats). The flight will be fulfilled once a fortnight .

The representatives of tourist retailers reported the information about the most popular destinations of the beginning of the autumn-winter season. Thailand, the UAE and Vietnam became the leaders in the Asian destinations.

Russian tourists most often buy winter tours on early booking program in Thailand, the UAE and Vietnam. Also the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Cuba are among the leading destinations for Russians in the winter season.

Tour operators note an increase in demand for the Dominican Republic. Sales of tours for winter season are much better this year. The destination is also in demand in the regions - travelers can use combined fixed-price tours with a regular Nordwind flight.

Representatives of the tourist retail industry have noted the increased attractiveness of holidays in the Caribbean among Russian tourists. Due to the growth of charter transportation and good prices, Cuba has a chance to increase its volumes this winter, and a number of retail’s networks note a high demand for Caribbean countries.

As a luxurious, all-inclusive hotel brand with properties located in some of the world’s most breathtaking destinations, Paradisus by Meliá offers an ultimate guest experience. The luxury brand includes resorts from the Caribbean to Mexico. These are Paradisus Palma Real, The Grand Reserve at Paradisus Palma Real and Paradisus Punta Cana (Dominican Republic), Paradisus Cancun, Paradisus Playa del Carmen’s La Perla, Paradisus Playa del Carmen La Esmeralda and Paradisus Los Cabos (Mexico).

The geography of direct flights from Russian cities to the Dominican Republic for the winter season - 2019/2020 continues to expand. The new program of Azur Air from Kazan to La Romana was announced. The flights will be operated once every two weeks from November 1 to April 17.

The volume of transportation to the Dominican Republic generally remained at the level of last year. There will be an a little increase due to new regional flights. For the Dominican destination last winter season went “smoothly”, but the expectations of tour operators were overstated, which led to the need to optimize flight programs.

The distinctive feature of winter 2019-2020 flight program to Dominican Republic is the appearance of the flights not only from the Russian capital, but also from several regional airports.

On November 8, Azur Air with will open direct flights to the Dominican Republic from Ekaterinburg (Koltsovo Airport). The flights will be operated every two weeks. This information is given by the press service of the air harbour.  Departure from Yekaterinburg is scheduled on Fridays at 09:10, from the Dominican Republic - on Thursdays at 10:10 (local time). Travel time will be 12 hours.

August, 8 the international airport Kazan has overcome the number of 2 000 000 served passengers in 2019. This figure was achieved on 11 days earlier than in 2018 when it happened only August, 19. For that moment it was the historical achievement for Tatarstan thanks to FIFA Football World Championship 21018. 

Thanks to the three new Boeing 777-300 ER from Royal Flight, this year Coral Travel tour operator will significantly increase its presence in the Caribbean: in addition to Cuba, charter flights of the tour operators will fly to the Dominican Republic. 

In the autumn-winter season 2019, ANEX Tour operator will expand its regional charter program in the Dominican Republic. In the very near future, tours in the Dominican Republic will be put on the tour operator’s booking system with departure from Kazan. 

According to the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, the number of tourists who arrived in the country in the first quarter of 2019 increased by 4.6% compared to the same period of 2018. At the same time, 65% of guests came from North America, 21.6% from Europe, 10.4% from South America, 2.6% from Central America and the Caribbean, and 0.3% from Asia and the rest of the world. 

“The number of tourists visiting the Dominican Republic in January-February 2019 amounted to 1.2 million, which is 7% more than in the same period a year earlier,” said the country's Tourism Minister Francisco Javier.