Tourists decided to celebrate November holidays in Russia
On Unity Day, citizens of Kazan will go to the two capitals, southern Russian resorts while some people will go to Baku, Tel Aviv and Amsterdam because Crimea turned out to be expensive again
Although the upcoming November holidays will be short, they seem to be quite busy for tourists. Russians will prefer to spend three days mainly in the homeland and go to southern Russian resorts and Moscow. Those who will choose a holiday abroad will go to Thailand, the UAE, Turkey and the Czech Republic. Citizens of Kazan, in turn, chose the two capitals and Crimea. In addition, the peninsula has been not the most affordable destination for Kazan citizens again – tickets to Simferopol are more expensive than a flight to Baku. Realnoe Vremya tells the details.
Russians to stay home on Unity Day
This year the Unity Day in Russia is on Saturday. This is why the day-off on 4 November was postponed until 6 November. Russians, including citizens of Kazan, decided to spend the three days-off at home – tickets and tours across the country were at the top of bookings. According to the Russian Agency for Tourism, which collected information from different tour providers, tour booking and ticket sales services, Russia is on the first place on the November holidays because its share in the total volume amounted to 18,42%. Then Thailand, the UAE, Turkey and the Czech Republic follow in descending order.
''Demand for health resorts where one can not only take a course of treatment and prevention procedures but also really have a rest together with the family before winter considerably grows, particularly on November holidays. In addition, cultural and educational tours that enable to spend long holidays with fun and benefit are very popular. The rating of the popularity of Russian tour destinations on the 2017 November holidays is an illustrative example of these tendencies,'' head of the Federal Agency for Tourism Oleg Safonov says.
Moscow, Petersburg, Sochi – at the top
According to Sletat.ru service, in the Russian market, people were more interested in Crimea, Krasnodar Krai, Moscow and Moscow Oblast. Kareliya, Kaliningrad, Leningrad, Yaroslavl Oblasts, Stavropol and Altai Krais, the Republic of Tatarstan were called popular regions.
Demands on Aviasales considerably differ from the data of the Russian Agency for Tourism and Sletat.ru: Petersburg, Sochi, Mineral Waters, Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar, Simferopol and Kaliningrad are at the top of the most interesting places. Experts point out Prague, Bangkok, Tel Aviv, Istanbul, Rome, Tbilisi and Phuket among international destinations. In this respect, Kazan is not far from Russian tendencies in the main. According to Aviasales, Moscow, Petersburg, Krasnodar, Simferopol and Sochi are traditionally popular destinations across Russia among citizens of Kazan for the November holidays. People of Kazan prefer to fly to Baku, Tel Aviv, Amsterdam, Antalya, Barcelona and Rome on the November days off.
''Like it was before, the majority of citizens of Kazan are going to travel across Russia: the interest in domestic destinations has increased by 44%. Azerbaijan (+145,2%) and Turkey (-24,6%) are also in the top 3 popular countries. What is more, Azerbaijan has been in the top 10 for the first time. Perhaps, the noticeable dynamics are linked with the recent launch of flights of Azerbaijani low-cost airline called Buta Airways. European countries and beach destinations are traditionally among the leaders. For instance, during the year, demand for tickets to the UAE has increased by 253,8% and Thailand – by 39,2%. European countries, on the contrary, became less popular,'' explains Irina Ryabovol, representative of momondo.ru international travel search engine.
Nizhny Novgorod chooses Belarus while Perm – Israel
It is curious that priority destinations in different regions of the Volga Federal District are different, though Russian destinations are leading everywhere.
''Priorities of citizens of Kazan are similar in Russia, in general. In the country, Russia is the leader, there is Thailand, Georgia and several European countries. However, Russians prefer France and India to Azerbaijan and the UAE. For instance, interests of neighbours in the Volga Federal District are noticeably different. For example, residents of Nizhny Novgorod are going to go to Belarus besides travelling across Russia, while people of Perm – to Israel,'' Irina Ryabovol says.
Flights to the Czech Republic are popular among residents of Ufa, Samara and Saratov. Citizens of Saratov also planned trips to Italy.
Ticket prices grow but Crimea is at the top again
A two-way flight to Moscow from the republic's capital is from 4,000 rubles, to Petersburg and Krasnodar – 7,000, to Sochi – 10,000 rubles. Crimea remains the anti-record holder. A flight there is from 14,000 rubles. For instance, tickets to Baku cost 3-4,000 rubles when new Buta Airways came. But they can be purchased for 13,000 rubles for the holidays. Nevertheless, it is still cheaper than a ticket to the Russian peninsula.
Flights to other destinations with a transfer in Moscow will total more than 20,000. What is interesting is that this year it became more expensive to travel on the November holidays than last year. Aviasales notes that during the year an average ticket price has increased just by 1,000 rubles – from 6,460 rubles to 7,555, to Petersburg – by 5,000, from 8,529 rubles to 13,546 rubles, and Sochi – by more than 3,000, from 6,819 rubles to 10,202 rubles.
An average ticket price for other flights across Russia has grown by 21% to 9,527 rubles during the year. An average price for domestic destinations has doubled – to 28,949 rubles. But representatives of the ticket aggregator explain that people usually buy tickets to warm countries beforehand. And an average price will reduce by the holidays due to the increased booking of European destinations.