Many Russians have already planned their May holidays and started buying tickets to warm countries. Thus, prices for package tours to Turkey have already skyrocketed one and a half times, exceeding the pre-pandemic 2019 figures.
Tourism experts say that since the beginning of 2022 the volume of bookings of tours to Turkey for the May holidays is one and a half times higher than in 2019, their words quoted by "Kommersant".
During the first month of 2022 the depth of sales of tours in Turkey on May holidays has already reached 2%, given that last year it was equal to 0.3%. Turkey accounts for 63% of the total number of bookings, followed by Egypt - 15%. Russian resorts ranked only 8%.
Experts predict an even greater surge in sales for the spring of 2022, as tourists are buying tickets 25 days before departure. Before the pandemic, they did it in 40 days, and in 2021 - 18 days. Experts attribute increased activity of customers to the existence of flexible payment format: tour operators offer to make an advance payment of 10%, and the full cost is usually made two to three weeks before departure.
Dmitry Gorin, vice president of the Russian Union of Travel Industry, suggested that such increased demand among Russians in Turkey may fall if quarantine restrictions will be canceled for other destinations. Also the situation may be affected by the restart of tourist cashback program in Russia.
According to Travelata estimates, now the average cost of a tour to Turkey for the May holidays is 109 thousand rubles, in 2021 this figure was 28% lower, in 2019 - 43% lower.