Demand for tours in Russia is growing rapidly after the closure of foreign destinations

In March, Russian tourists booked 83% of tours within the country, the rest - abroad. Among the popular Russian destinations are Sochi, Anapa and Kavminvody. Interest in recreation in the Crimea is still restrained against the backdrop of a military special operation and the closure of air traffic.

Overseas bookings accounted for only 17%. While a year ago, it was trips abroad that accounted for up to 69% of all bookings, and in pre-Covid 2019 - 89%, Kommersant writes with reference to Travelata.ru data.

The sharp increase in demand for domestic travel in the week of March 12-20 is due to the resumption of the travel cashback program. Russians can compensate up to 20 thousand rubles for trips around Russia. As a reminder, the program was resumed on March 15. And sales of tours across the country this week increased 6-7 times compared to sales a week earlier.

Against the background of increasing demand for travel within the country, Russian hoteliers may raise prices, the newspaper notes. According to market participants, prices are expected to rise by 10-20% in the near future. So far, the average booking receipt is at the level of last year and amounts to 41.8 thousand rubles.

Among the popular foreign destinations are Abkhazia, Turkey and the UAE, which accounted for 9%, 5% and 2% of bookings, respectively.