What destinations do the air travelers choose this summer and during the velvet season? This was found out by experts from the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR). According to them, Simferopol is among the top five cities as a popular flight destination.
As they told in the ATOR, this summer Sochi and Simferopol became the leaders among the country's flight destinations. According to the Biletix company, the volume of ticket sales to those destinations not only recovered in comparison with last year's indicators, but even exceeded them.
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"In July 10-20, 2020, the volume of domestic flight ticket sales is 6.1% higher compared to the same period of the last year. The tourist flow has completely reoriented to domestic resorts: the share of bookings abroad does not exceed 4%", — ATOR quotes Biletix.
Sochi, Simferopol, St. Petersburg, Anapa and Krasnodar are in the top five most popular summer destinations. At the same time, the first two cities accounted for 54% of flight ticket bookings in July is 30% and 24%, respectively. St. Petersburg has only 9%, Anapa and Krasnodar show 8% and 3%, respectively.
The experts also told about the demand for holidays during the velvet season. At the same time, they point out that it cannot yet be called a rush. However, peak sales can be expected in the autumn.
"In the period from 10 till 20 July, the share of bookings of flight tickets departing in September-October amounted to 5.3%, in the same period last year it was 17%. Simferopol, Sochi, Anapa, Kaliningrad, Minvody are in the TOP destinations for the velvet season. Many representatives of the travel industry expected that the peak of sales within the framework of the deferred demand would be in the autumn, but we see that the deferred demand is being satisfied now", — Biletix emphasized.
At the same time, they added at ATOR, the participants of the travel market note that while the sales of summer tours are gradually ending, there is still a choice of places in different hotels, including popular ones in the period from September in the resorts of the South of Russia. A trip to the sea shore in September will cost tourists less than in July-August: hotels reduce prices by 10% for arrivals till September 10 and up to 30% till the end of the month, tickets can be bought about 20% cheaper than in August.
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"By the way, this summer ticket prices in Russia are already lower than in the same period last year. According to Biletix estimates, in the period from 10 to 20 July, the average price for air tickets in Russia is 7,357 rubles ($ 105), last year it was 8,723 rubles ($ 125), 15% more expensive", — ATOR concluded.
