Crimea is facing an invasion of Russian tourists: people are massively abandoning tours abroad
Moscow – Kyiv, April 2 (PolitNavigator, Mikhail Shtamm) – According to a survey of tourism industry representatives conducted by NG , most Russians will likely spend the upcoming May holidays within Russia. This is very good news for Crimea, which expects more Russian tourists this season than last summer.
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“Russian travelers will choose mainly domestic destinations,” says Ilarion Kopaleishvili, marketing manager for Skyscanner in Russia. According to the air ticket search service, if last year the only Russian cities in the top five popular destinations were Moscow and St. Petersburg, this year the situation has changed dramatically, and the only foreign city where Russians prefer to go for the May holidays is Turkish Istanbul .
Similar trends are being recorded by the international online accommodation booking service Booking.com.
Previously, the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) predicted a 30 percent decrease in the volume of charter flights abroad during the May holidays.
Things are even worse now with the summer season. As ATOR executive director Maya Lomidze said yesterday, “the demand for outbound destinations will in any case decrease compared to last year.” According to ATOR, the demand for foreign travel may decline by 50%. “According to a rough estimate, the reduction will be from 10 to 50% depending on the directions,” Lomidze reports.
As a result, as the expert says, Russians fearfully choose not Europe and Egypt, but the Russian Federation. And this is very good for Crimea, where more Russian tourists are expected this season than last summer. The only question is how the crossing will work this summer, the expansion work of which was disrupted, and the capacity of the Simferopol airport.
Let us remind you that Aeroflot guarantees that current prices for flights to Crimea will remain the same this year.
Crimea is facing an invasion of Russian tourists: people are canceling their trips abroad en masse.