Turkey leads among foreign destinations for the period of the May holidays and even shows an increase compared to last year, but such statistics of Russian tour operators are not very encouraging. In fact, in their mass, Russian tourists began to wait, hanging Turkey: according to ATOR, some major market players have fewer tour packages booked in Turkey for the whole of June 2023 than for 10 days of the May holidays. High prices, fluctuations in the ruble exchange rate and general uncertainty are “pressing on the demand of tourists,” experts add.
According to market experts, Turkey accounts for 23% to 51% of tour sales in May, mainly due to a sufficient number of direct charter flights from many Russian cities, experts say. At the same time, tour operators expect a new increase in bookings next week. Experts note that in general, sales growth by 2022 is from 20-40% up to 6 times, but they urge not to be deceived by these figures. Thus, ANEX Tour recalled that last year the demand for the May holidays in Turkey was “collapsed” by the events in Ukraine, air sanctions and a sharp reduction in the number of direct flights. Compared to previous years, demand is “lower than expected,” even FUN&SUN stated this – namely, this tour operator’s demand increased 6 times compared to the spring of 2022.
As for the summer season, the situation here is still quite alarming. “Reducing the depth of booking in Turkey is a rather serious problem: tourists are waiting to the last,” ATOR experts say. They also note that upon completion of early booking campaigns, even the tour operators of the “top three” will have to sell at least two-thirds of their assortment in the summer season, while the rest will have sold out even less.
“At the moment, Turkey’s sales are at June is less than the May holidays (although more than in comparison with 2022),” note, for example, PEGAS Touristik. As of June, Turkey's booking depth has “dramatically decreased”, Intourist added.
According to experts, tourists are waiting for price reductions to book for the summer. Even at the stage of early booking for the summer of 2023, prices for summer Turkey increased by an average of 30%, and for a number of high-level objects – up to 50% compared to last year. The weakening of the ruble in recent weeks, when demand has intensified, also had a negative impact, since each fluctuation in the exchange rate can have a significant impact on the final cost of the trip. As a result, forecasts for the summer are still “vague” – on the one hand, traffic volumes increased by 30%, on the other hand, due to the low depth, demand will be uneven, and hotels, which have especially increased prices, will clearly miss the number of tourists.
May holidays, interestingly, did not rise in price much – from 4 to 12% according to tour operators. According to ANEX Tour, the average check for a tour for three in 2022 for the May holidays was 2436 euros for the company in 2023 – 2574 euros; Intourist reported figures of 709 euros in 2022, and in 2023 – 792 euros. True, the difference is greater in rubles.
As a result, according to tour operators, the average prices for May at 4 * for a week with a departure at the end of April will cost 108-111 thousand rubles for two on an all-inclusive basis. In 5 *, the starting price is not much more expensive than 110-120 thousand rubles; in Deluxe from 200-210 thousand rubles. for two for a week with a flight.
Note that the editors of TURPROM recommend choosing a tour to Turkey from any major Russian tour operator at guaranteed best prices in one of the well-known online package tour aggregators: ✈ here is a direct link to Level .Travel and here is ✈ a direct link to Travelata. These online agencies aggregate absolutely all tours of all Russian tour operators, which allows tourists to conveniently compare them and choose the best tour packages. The selected tour can be booked immediately, receive instant confirmation and pay online through a secure banking gateway and receive documents. Or you can just look at and compare the current prices for tours from all tour operators at once.
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