The number of travel agencies in Russia reduced by 30% over two years

The number of travel agencies, operating in Russia, decreased by around 30% over the past two years, the press secretary of the Russian Union of Travel Industry Irina Tyurina reported. "The decline in demand for international trips, a reduction of charter programs, the closure of Turkey and Egypt as destinations led to the fact that in the past two years, tourism industry in Russia lost customers and, accordingly, many travel agents had to leave the market. In the two crisis years, the travel agency sector has decreased in different regions of Russia in average by 30% and the range of losses in different cities varies from 10% to 50%,» Irina Tyurina explained. Thus, according to the Regional Union of Travel Industry of Siberia, the number of travel agencies in Novosibirsk decreased only by 40% in two years. In Yekaterinburg, according to the Ural Tourism Association, the decline amounted to about 25%, from 800 agents in 2014 to 600 at the beginning of 2016. According to the network of travel agents Rozovyi Slon (lit. Pink Elephant), decrease in the number of travel agencies in Krasnodar was 20%, in Rostov-on-Don - 25%, in Volgograd - 30%. Irina Tyurina also noted that if in the beginning of the crisis mostly small agencies were closed, who had nor experience nor customer database, now travel companies with a good background leave the market. The reasons for leaving can be linked indirectly to the crisis: if a major enterprise closes in the city, number of customer becomes smaller, which ultimately leads to the closure of travel agencies in that city. According to various estimates, the number of travel agencies, operating in Russia, is from 15 to 30 thousand companies.