Almost half of Russians (46%) intend to travel around the country for the November holidays. Such results were shown by a study by Booking.com. According to the booking services surveyed by Izvestia, the most popular destinations were Sochi with its suburbs and Crimea… Experts explain such a high demand for resorts in November by the good weather in these regions, as well as the low cost of flights and train tickets. The State Duma is concerned that a high tourist flow will lead to an outbreak of COVID-19 in these regions.
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Plus time off
The Russians decided not to give up traveling around the country on the so-called November holidays. Even despite the fact that the day off fell in the middle of the week, and the situation with the incidence of COVID-19 remains unfavorable. The most popular destinations were Moscow, St. Petersburg, as well as Sochi, its suburbs and the Crimea.
National Unity Day, which fell on Wednesday this year, encouraged citizens to add a couple of days off to it and go on a trip, noted in OneTwoTrip.
– The top cities, although insignificantly, have changed compared to the same period last year. Kaliningrad in 2020 has become almost twice as popular, occupying the fifth line instead of the tenth. The demand for trips to Krasnodar fell by a third, and to Simferopol, on the contrary, increased by 30%. Most of the flights are planned for November 3, 4 and 6, ”Elena Shelekhova, head of the OneTwoTrip press service, told Izvestia.
Maximum bookings were made from Moscow (44%), St. Petersburg (11%), Krasnodar (3.5%), Kazan (3%) and Yekaterinburg (2.5%). The average cost of an air ticket in Russia in both directions during the specified period is 7,200 rubles, which is 35% less than last year (10,800 rubles).
Tickets to Simferopol from Moscow cost an average of 15% than a year ago, to Sochi – 35%, flights to St. Petersburg and Krasnodar from the capital have fallen in price by half. Tickets from St. Petersburg to Krasnodar dropped in price by an average of a third, flights to Kaliningrad and Sochi from St. Petersburg fell by 24%, and to Rostov-on-Don – by 5%, Izvestia was told in the analytical center for travel and travel Tutu .RU.
The top 5 destinations, according to this company, include flights from Moscow. Simferopol, Sochi, St. Petersburg, Krasnodar and Mineralnye Vody are especially popular among the residents of the capital.… But residents of St. Petersburg are planning to visit Kaliningrad, Rostov-on-Don and Sochi this week.
Most travel by train is between Moscow and St. Petersburg. Trains to Nizhny Novgorod, Ivanovo, Kazan and Bryansk are also popular for trips from the capital. The top 20 routes from St. Petersburg include Pskov, Sortavala and Tver.
As for accommodation while traveling, 82% of tourists preferred hotels, 5% relied on resort hotels, 3% – on apartments and hostels, 2.5% – on guest houses. Most often, Russians booked double (53%) and single (30%) rooms, 14% of Russians planned accommodation with children. 3% booked a room for three or more people, noted in OneTwoTrip.
In the online hotel booking service Ostrovok.ru, in turn noted a significant rise in the cost of living in resort hotels in the Krasnodar Territory and Crimea… So, one night in Sochi costs 6,700 rubles, which is 36% more compared to the same period in 2019. Krasnaya Polyana costs 7,500 rubles for tourists (+ 28%). The greatest increase in the cost of hotels in Crimea was noted in Sevastopol – 4200 (+ 65%) and Yalta – 5000 (+ 60%).
Delivery of infection
The decrease in the cost of air and rail tickets, as well as the cashback program, influenced the desire of Russians to travel around the country, said Yuri Barzykin, First Vice President of the Russian Union of Travel Industry.
– There are shorter trips on November weekends than on regular holidays. Now it is very crowded not only by the sea, but also in Krasnaya Polyana because of the good weather. The region is 23-25 degrees. The same is observed in Crimea… It is, of course, cold to swim in the sea, but swimming pools and excursion programs are popular, – the expert told Izvestia.
Also, tourists, in his opinion, prefers to travel with excursions in their regions – Central and North-Western parts of Russia… And although the tourist flow has now become more active, it still does not cover the losses incurred by the domestic tourism industry.
– If you follow the mask regime, traveling around Russia is safe enough… In Russian hotels, all the requirements of Rospotrebnadzor are carefully observed. The saddest thing is, from personal experience, I can say that apart from capitals in other cities, there is a low level of masking, – complained Yuri Barzykin.
A study by Booking.com showed that almost half of Russians (46%) plan to travel during the November holidays. Such a large-scale travel of tourists to the regions will greatly affect the deterioration of the situation with the spread of coronavirus infection, said Boris Mendelevich, a member of the State Duma Committee on Health.
– Travel, movement of people, increase in contacts – and so one of the main reasons for the spread of covid. The epidemic itself in our country is heterogeneous, and everything comes from the capital. Therefore, when the incidence of coronavirus in Moscow decreases, an outbreak will occur in the regions. We observed a similar situation in September, ”the parliamentarian told Izvestia.
The deputy urged citizens to refrain from traveling now and observe all necessary security measures.