Grimaces of the market: why holidays in Turkey have become more expensive than in the Maldives

The Turkish paradox was reported by the local economic publication Ekonomigazetesi. According to Turkish journalists, the average vacation check in Turkey compared to pre-pandemic times increased by 70-90 percent. This was reflected in the tourist flow from Of Russia. Already Russian experts predict that the number of tourists from Russia may decrease to 4 million in 2023, while in 2022 5.2 million Russian tourists arrived in Turkey.

The Turkish edition notes that a vacation in this country has equaled the cost of a trip to Greece, which has always been a little more expensive and even overtook Spain and the Maldives. The latter fact «hooked» the domestic tourist, because rest on tropical islands is considered the height of tourist chic in our country.

We decided to check the news, maybe it's true, Turkish and Russian tourists don't need this coast now they will fly en masse to the atolls? Indeed, a major Russian tour operator offers several relatively inexpensive tours to the Maldives. The price tag starts from 188 thousand rubles for two for 6 nights of heavenly pleasure.

Holidays in Turkish hotels with the same parameters: 6 nights for two can already cost 320 thousand and above.

But there is a nuance. As Alexey Tsiporday, the general director of the Vita Travel network, explains, it is impossible to compare these proposals head-on. It is necessary to consider hotels comparable in terms of service.

«At the moment, prices for the Maldives may be lower than prices for Turkey, » the expert says, «but this is due to the fact that tour operators use dynamic pricing. The cost is assigned by the computer, depending on demand. The higher it is, the higher the price, as in aggregators. Perhaps some moment of hype was caught when the price of Turkey was artificially higher. In the long term, this trend is unlikely to remain, because the market will put everything in its place, people simply will not take such expensive tours. Well, the devil is always in the details, you need to take a good look at what they are doing with what. Three stars in the Maldives can be cheaper than five stars in Turkey in normal times. But the level of services is not comparable. Just physically, all other things being equal, the Maldives cannot be cheaper, because the flight is further and more expensive.»

Indeed, if you study the entire offer for Turkish hotels, then there will be quite democratic 150-160 thousand rubles for five stars.

And what will Sochi answer to this? The Russian resort also has something to brag about in the dispute, who beat the price of the Maldives. The same tour aggregator offers a part-time week at the Russian Rodina Hotel for 1,172 million rubles. At the same time, the accommodation assumes only breakfast. You will have to eat in the famous Sochi cafes.

What kind of beast is dynamic pricing?

According to the expert of the tourism industry, Turkey has really risen in price this summer, but Russian tour operators are also adding a price due to the «smart» sales system.

«The market as a whole complains that Turkey has raised prices recently, you can't even call the average by the most, because every morning the data is updated, » says Alexey Tsiporday, «travel agents have been saying for a long time: hey, guys, where are you going? This raises the prices of hotels. As for dynamic prices, all these windfalls are already falling to the Russian tour operator, because the hotels don't know about it, it's all the ideas of the tour operator.»