Russian tourists are increasingly booking sea voyages abroad. They are not afraid of difficulties with visas, flights and not always convenient payment methods.

According to the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) the number of trips from Russia to Europe amounted to 1.4 million, including connecting flights to third countries, mainly via Turkey.

Over 250 hotels will be closed after the tragedy at the Kartalkaya ski resort. The fire that occurred at the Grand Kartal Hotel on January 21 took lives of 78 people.

Despite the sanctions, difficulties in obtaining visas and the lack of direct flights, Russian tourists do not refuse to travel to Europe in the summer season of 2024.

The tour operator Fun & Sun, has nearly finalized flight plans to Turkey for the summer season. Charter flights and seats on flights to Antalya are currently available from 17 different cities in Russia. In addition, flights from other regions will be added to flights to the Aegean Coast - to Bodrum and Dalaman.

Russian travelers made 14 million trips in 2023 ( with the exception of post-Soviet countries).

The number of trips from Russia to Turkey in 2023 increased by 20% up to 6.31 million, approaching the record level of the pre-pandemic 2019 (about 7 million people).

The tour operator Fun&Sun bought a block of seats on Ural Airlines flights to Istanbul and arranged tours to Istanbul and Cappadocia for February and March, both excursion and of the “flight + hotel” format.

Compared to December, February shows a sharp increase in the share of tour sales to the UAE. The share of Egypt is growing, the share of sales of Russia and Thailand is stable.

The volume of early bookings of tours to Turkey for the summer season of 2024 in mid-December exceeded last year figures three times, Turkey is the undisputed leader among destinations for which early bookings have opened for the summer season of 2024.

Russian tourists have replaced Spain with Turkey, as a result of which the Кingdom lost almost €2 billion in 2022. Last year only 268 thousand Russians visited Spain.

Turkey will account for a third of all Fun&Sun sales in 2024. In the second and third places in the list of the company’s key destinations are Egypt and the UAE.

The flow of tourists to Antalya from the Russian Federation in January-November 2023 increased by 15% compared to the same period last year and amounted to 3 million 401 thousand. The share of Russians in the total number of tourists for 11 months in Antalya is 23,4%.

The shares of destinations in December were distributed as follows: Egypt - 26%, UAE - 19%, Thailand - 18%, Turkey - 8% and Russia - 6%. Next in the list of interests among aggregator users are Sri Lanka and Cuba (5% each), the Maldives with 3%, India and Vietnam with 2%.

The tour operator Pegas Touristik announced the start of sales of tours to Turkey for the summer of 2024 with flights on Southwind and Turkish Airlines flights from 17 Russian cities. Tourists have already begun to buy summer holidays in Turkey.

The tour operator Intourist has launched the first stage of an early booking campaign for tours to Turkey for the summer of 2024 - to Antalya and Dalaman on charters.

Russia took the first place in tourist flow to Turkish Antalya, 3,32 million Russians visited Antalya in January-October, which is 17% more than in the same period last year.

Package offers for resorts on the Antalya and Aegean coasts of Turkey based on blocks of seats on Turkish Airlines flights are available on Anex website. Prices start from $ 1 495 for two persons.

Compared to the autumn of 2022, week-long New Year tours to Turkey have risen in price by 40-60% this year. According to Anex, the minimum cost of a “comfortable” New Year’s tour to Antalya is now around $ 2 795 for two persons.

Over the three quarters of 2023, the outbound flow from Russia amounted to 21 020 012 people, which is 12,4% higher compared to the same period in 2022.

The most popular destinations where tourists and vacationers often book tours on the eve of the New Year are the UAE, Turkey, Thailand, Egypt and the Russian Federation. Sometimes Sri Lanka is included in the TOP of the most popular destinations.

Coral Travel this winter season will operate flights to Egypt, the UAE, Thailand, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Cuba and Turkey (Antalya) from a total of 16 Russian cities.

Turkey is one of the popular New Year destinations in the sales of Russian tour operators. In terms of current demand, the country is in the TOP 5, occupying from 6% to 17% of New Year's sales from different companies, after the UAE, Egypt, Thailand and, in some cases, Russia.

Taking into account that from January to August Turkey received 4,4 million Russian tourists, the tourist flow at the end of the year may approach to 6 million.