Tour operators note a significant increase of sales of winter Austria

According to preliminary data from the Austrian side, following the results of 2017 the number of arrivals of Russian tourists to Austria amounted 338 thousand (+ 24.1%). As reported in the Austrian Tourism Office in Moscow, the number of nights of Russian visitors increased by 18.3% - up to 1,156,000 nights. As the Director of the representative office Herald Böhm believes, in 2018 the positive dynamics of the Russian market will continue. As for the organized tourist flow, Russian tour operators estimate the growth of demand from 15% up to 50% on the Austrian direction. Most of all Austria built up the volumes in the winter season: Russians began to return to the Alpine slopes due to the stabilization of the Ruble,. According to the press service of Biblio-Globus tour operator, over the past year the demand for the direction has increased by 30%. The company notes an increase of the number of group tours, which is connected with the fact that tourists are increasingly traveling with families, including children. The same trend is confirmed by the specialists of Russian Express tour operator. Ski tours were the most demanded ones. This trend has been maintained for the last several years, restoring the tourist flow to Austria after the crisis season of 2014. According to Renat Bederdinov, the manager of the European direction of VEDI TURGRUPP tour operator, sales of tours to Austria grew by about 15%. Among the company's customers the combination tours Vienna-Prague and Vienna-Budapest are particularly popular. According to the market participants, the Austrian direction is in demand this year as well - both for the second half of the winter season and for the May dates. Some companies have the depth of bookings which already reaching the summer months. In general, the tour operator companies have the depth of sales today from 3 weeks to 2 months.