New Year's tourist flow abroad decreased by five times

Experts have compiled the top popular destinations during the coronavirus pandemic and found out how many tourists managed to relax in these countries.

According to the analytical service of ATOR, more than 60 thousand Russians were able to organize their New Year holidays abroad through tour operators and spend their holidays there. Among the countries where tourists from Russia went, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Tanzania, the Maldives and Cuba. These are the countries with which direct flights are officially open, and which receive foreign tourists. Moreover, it was to the Maldives that the Russians staged a record pilgrimage, increasing the tourist flow by 70% over the year.

The dynamics differ from country to country. Compared to the previous year, sales of tours to Tanzania increased 5.5 times. Note that charters fly to this country from nine Russian cities.

But Turkish sales in the organized segment showed a decline - by almost 25%. The UAE and Cuba lost 75-80% of sales of New Year's tours. Experts note that demand for the UAE has been hampered by high ticket prices and limited traffic. The Russians did not rush to Cuba due to the fact that only one resort with a small number of rooms was opened there - Cayo Coco.

In addition to these five countries, tourists from the Russian Federation flew to Egypt, Abkhazia, Serbia, Belarus and other states on New Year's holidays.

At the same time, the fall in an independent segment turned out to be even deeper. New Year's trips abroad turned out to be seven times less (only according to preliminary estimates) than for the New Year's holidays in 2020.

It is worth noting that organized tourists in 2021 chose for their holidays mainly a beach vacation or hotels with an all-inclusive system, as in Turkey. City tours were also reduced to a minimum - in fact, to only one of Istanbul, but demand for it was undermined by the "New Year's lockdown", which was introduced by the Turkish government. Yes, and ski holidays were limited almost only to Turkey, although there was little demand for it.

It is noteworthy that against the backdrop of the pandemic and the ensuing economic crisis, Russians still did not spare money for recreation. According to Space Trevel specialists, a significant number of New Year's requests were from the category “fly away tomorrow, money does not matter”. And this affected, first of all, the rest in the Maldives, where, by the way, many representatives of Russian show business went. They also joined in the advertising of popular hotels on the islands - some of the "stars" are actively promoting sea villas, one night stay on which costs about 300 thousand rubles.