Find a holiday: where Russians will celebrate the New Year and how much it costs

Yekaterina Maximova, Natalia Seibil

Russians, cut off from foreign tours, began to travel around the country.

"New Year's holidays are well sold, well booked and well filled. We have recorded that the most popular destinations have already loaded, hotels record a load close to 100%. Trips abroad have become more difficult and more expensive, so the reorientation to domestic destinations is significant", - said Ilya Umansky, President of the Russian Union of Travel Industry. Got up on skis 

According to him, the peculiarity of this season was the increased demand for ski resorts.

 "It has always been quite high, but this year it has intensified even more, since we have restrictions on travel to European resorts that were a competitor and an alternative to ours. Everything is tight there. In addition, the main demand falls on the Krasnodar Territory, of course, Sochi, there is a tourist flow to the Crimea, but somewhat less than last year. This year we recorded earlier sales of ski resorts, as tourists understood that it was not worth waiting for European resorts this year. But at the same time, other factors related to foreign policy moments pushed demand in the opposite direction and reduced the depth of sales as much as possible. These factors balanced each other. Therefore, the current New Year's season is a bit strange," Umansky added. 

"It is almost impossible to find a free room right now in the hotels of the busiest ski resorts - Krasnaya Polyana, Dobmai, Arkhyz, Terskol. Our booking was put "on hold" back in early December. With an early booking, a week for two in a hotel on Rosa Khutor, this is only accommodation, cost about 130 thousand rubles. Now you can still just fly to Sochi. For example, the cheapest tour from St. Petersburg will cost 16.5 thousand rubles. This is a flight and five nights. And this, of course, is very economy class", - said the owner of the travel agency Maria Sharova. 

New Year's tale near the house

The demand for boarding houses and hotels located close to the capital cities has become the second feature of this season.

"This is a very popular story. We must understand that there is very little quality year-round supply in our country. Therefore, everything that is high-quality, developed and capable of providing something more than just a room, but a set of services, is very much in demand in all locations. In addition, of course, many people spend New Year's holidays nearby. Not everyone goes on all holidays," Umansky said. 

He clarifies that the average duration of such a trip is about three days. "Tourists prefer the nearest regions for such a duration of rest. Even the resorts of the Krasnodar Territory are largely filled with residents of neighboring districts – from the Rostov region, Voronezh. People drive cars to the Krasnodar Territory. In Sochi, the situation is somewhat different. Tourists from different regions get there. But Sochi is on a separate agenda. This is a full-fledged year-round resort," the expert said.  

How much does it cost to see RussiaVice President 

Dmitry Gorin of the Russian Union of Tourism Industry noted that in addition to ski resorts, excursions to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod have become popular destinations of domestic tourism this year. 

"There is also a noticeable demand for such destinations as Murmansk and Karelia. In general, New Year's holidays are a period of increased demand, they can be attributed to the "high season". The capacity of the room stock is significantly less than in the summer. We have much fewer hotels that have a high-quality year-round structure that is attractive to the consumer. Those hotels that have high–quality infrastructure – swimming pools, restaurants, leisure activities - are in high demand and have no problems with loading. We do not see any bright changes compared to last year. Everything good and of high quality is traditionally in high demand," adds Ilya Umansky. 

Prices for package services, Dmitry Gorin estimated at the end of November, were very diverse. Short sightseeing trips in Russia for 2-3 days with accommodation in a 3-star hotel started from 9 thousand rubles, plus a train or plane ticket. The average receipt, including transportation costs, was 35 thousand rubles. 

Ilya Umansky adds that this year the prices for New Year's tours are about 10% higher than last year. "It is pointless to name the maximum price. I can compare a 3-star hotel in Suzdal and in Sochi. The average price for a family of 3 people. The average price for a family of three in Krasnaya Polyana in a 3–star hotel is 50 thousand rubles for three days. In Suzdal, the hotel has 4 stars – about 40 thousand. But in Sochi, it is also necessary to take into account transportation costs. Of course, it is difficult to compare these resorts", - Ilya Umansky said. 

According to Oksana Bulakh, commercial director of the National Tour Operator Alean, in 2022, domestic tours really rose in price within the limits of inflation - by 10-15%. "But, of course, we must understand that this is still a kind of "average temperature in the hospital." So, in the high segment, prices in 2022 increased more – from 30% and above. But this segment is quite small – no more than 10% of the total number of "beds" at resorts. <...> The cost of sightseeing tours to Moscow increased by 10%, to St. Petersburg - by 15-20%," said Ms. Bulakh. 

According to preliminary data from ATOR, by the end of 2022, the total tourist flow in Russia increased by 7%, while the number of tourists sent to Russia directly by tour operators showed an increase of 16%. In total, more than 61 million trips are expected within Russia (57 million trips by the end of 2021). The Krasnodar Territory led the top five (44%), followed by St. Petersburg (12%), the TOP 5 destinations are Kavminvody, Moscow and the Moscow region. The average check for a package tour of Russia amounted to 75 thousand rubles per person, which, as experts estimated above, fits into the framework of inflation. 

Novye Izvestia reported that about 7 million Russians will visit abroad this year. For comparison, there were 19 million organized travelers in the pre-2019 year alone. The volume of bookings to Europe by the dates of 2022 is about 10% of the indicators of 2021.

Russians who decided to go on New Year's tours abroad most often chose the Maldives, Egypt, UAE, Sri Lanka, Seychelles and Thailand. Transportation offers to Venezuela and Cuba were also popular. The average price of a New Year's tour to the most popular destinations with early booking ranged from 140 to 450 thousand rubles for two.