Where do Russians prefer to relax? Rosstat calculated where Russians most often vacation. Where do Russian tourists vacation?
MOSCOW, January 29 - RIA Novosti. Crimea, Baikal, Altai region, Sochi and St. Petersburg entered the top 5 regions of Russia where it would be most interesting for citizens to go on vacation and have fun, said Ilya Grashchenkov, head of the Center for Regional Policy Development.
“On the one hand, everyone wants to visit, this is a stable figure. If we look at sociology and opinion polls in detail, it turns out that almost an equal number of respondents of all ages, all social classes, spheres would like to go on vacation to Crimea,” Grashchenkov said at the presentation joint research by VTsIOM and the Center for Regional Policy Development.
But in other contexts, these indicators change, he added.
“If we talk about the first category (recreation and entertainment), this is a kind of general summary rating, it includes either beach holidays - Crimea and, and vice versa - Altai, Baikal (and St. Petersburg). And, we believe, this is due to because these are the regions that appear most often in the news and in other media,” Grashchenkov said.
According to him, it is also much more interesting to look at other tops - these are cities and cultural attractions. “In general, the majority of respondents told us that they want to go on vacation not to beaches or some other types of recreation, but just for cultural attractions and new experiences,” he explained.
“Third place goes to Kamchatka (12%), which is by a small margin, but is included in this top 3 as one of the most promising regions, which until recently was a closed, mothballed region, and today is the leader in the number of investments in the tourism industry. .. Next comes abstract Siberia (10%), that is, people don’t really imagine where else they would go, but Siberia, like some kind of general idea, is also in the lead, and Karelia (9%) is a small gap behind it,” he added.
The head of the Center also indicated that among the reasons why Russians do not travel are high cost and lack of time. “But what’s interesting is that only 3% are concerned about poor service, and transport problems and low comfort are also only 2%,” he clarified.
"We tried to evaluate unexplored tourist destinations from the point of view of whether respondents are interested in them at all or not. ... The absolute overwhelming majority - 65% - are interested Volgograd region in general, although, as I understand it, we are talking about Mamayev Kurgan... In second place is Sakhalin. There is some absolute top of points, and all of them are mainly either focused on exotic points of Russia, or, on the contrary, are the usual reproduction of the school curriculum. It’s interesting that a number of unexplored regions with high potential, such as Yakutia and Buryatia, are of interest to respondents,” said Grashchenkov.
The survey was conducted by VTsIOM-Sputnik in two stages on November 13 and 26, 2019 among 1.6 thousand Russians over 18 years of age using the telephone interview method using a stratified two-base random sample of landline and mobile phones. For this sample, the maximum error with a probability of 95% does not exceed 2.5%.
Summer is approaching and it is already becoming clear that Russians do not intend to deny themselves a vacation. Despite the fact that the incomes of the vast majority of the population have not increased, and prices have risen, people nevertheless manage to carve out money from their budget for summer travel.
Only the priorities have changed: instead of expensive resorts many choose budget ones. And those who decide to go on foreign tours have begun to save on the length of their vacation: now tours last on average 5-6 days instead of 11-12 last year.
Anapa and Novorossiysk instead of Sochi
The choice of vacation destinations is dictated primarily by your wallet's capabilities. Most prefer not foreign trips, and more budget travel across Russia. Most Russians book tickets to resorts in the south of Russia, but there are also many who go to explore other cities in the summer. Beach holidays are preferred by families with children, and urban tourism is predominantly preferred by young people.
“In general, as last year, Russians’ preferences for summer travel have not changed, he says CEO online travel service UFS.Travel Alexey Astanin. – Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Kazan are in demand for urban recreation. At the same time, Russian resorts have become more popular: for beach holiday An increasing number of travelers are booking tickets to Anapa, Sochi and Tuapse in advance. This demand for Russian resorts is primarily due to better prices, no need to obtain visas, and a favorable, comfortable climate. And also with the active development of the hotel business, improvement of infrastructure and service at the resorts of southern Russia.”
It is interesting that this year, compared to last year, the demand for train tickets to Anapa and Novorossiysk has increased significantly, which have supplanted one of the leaders in 2018 - Krasnodar.
According to UFS.Travel, the average bill for train tickets was 3,258 rubles, for air travel in Russia and the CIS – 9,937 rubles. Interestingly, this year the Russians are planning in advance summer rest and buy railway and air tickets on average 2-3 months before the trip. At the same time, passengers have become more active in booking tickets online, purchasing them through mobile applications or specialized websites.
According to Tutu.ru, this year, compared to last year, the demand for air tickets to Kaliningrad is growing and, conversely, there are fewer people wanting to fly to Krasnodar. Perhaps the increase in the average bill (+28% compared to last year’s value) is deterring. Thus, the price of a flight from Moscow to Krasnodar and back in the summer of 2019 increased from last year’s 8,372 rubles to 10,694 rubles.
What vacation? I have a mortgage!
According to Head of Public Relations Department of Tutu.ru Natalia Anisimovo Well, many people’s plans to go somewhere in the summer are ruined by their mortgage. “We just conducted a survey on this topic on the site,” she says. – We asked travelers about their plans for the summer. It turned out that the second most common answer was: “What vacation? I have a mortgage." He was chosen by 17% of respondents.”
According to the same survey, 10% of Russians plan to spend their holidays at home; 8% – do not plan to take a vacation at all in the summer; 6% – haven’t thought about plans yet. That is, in total, more than 40% of respondents do not intend to go anywhere at all, most likely due to modest financial capabilities. And this despite the fact that the survey was conducted on a website that is primarily visited by people planning their trips. This means that the percentage of forced homebodies is most likely even higher.
Holidays in the countryside and in the countryside remain popular. It is especially loved among people over 60 years of age and families with children. IN last years The number of families who rent a house in the village for the summer has also increased. As a rule, these are families with children who do not have their own dachas and who cannot afford a seaside holiday. After all, for about the same money that a two-week vacation would cost Russian resort, you can rent a very comfortable house in middle lane for the whole summer.
Abroad at any cost
However, according to the results of a survey by Tutu.ru, those who plan to go abroad, no matter what, turned out to be not so few - 18% of respondents. Popular external destinations have not changed since last year: Turkey, Cyprus, Greece, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Spain - that is, those countries that manage to create affordable offers. For several years now, neighboring countries have been gaining popularity, especially Georgia.
People have begun to save money, but they do not intend to give up traveling. Those who have long discovered trips abroad consider them an integral part of their lives; without them, life significantly loses in quality. Therefore, people, especially those under 40 years of age, are ready to shorten their vacation periods and stay in hotels of a lower class, but they want to travel abroad at all costs.
“The average bill for flights abroad remained almost at the level of last year plus 1%,” says Natalya Anisimova. – The most popular foreign cities for the summer are Tivat, Tbilisi and Burgas. The average bill in these areas is slightly higher than last year.”
Short trips to Finland and the Baltic countries also remain attractive, mainly for auto tourists. Moreover, people travel from St. Petersburg to these countries more actively than from Moscow and other Russian cities.
Train or plane?
Interestingly, the choice of train or plane to get to your holiday destination depends on a number of factors, and is not just determined by the price of the issue. According to Tutu.ru, tourists choose transport depending on travel time, distance and ticket price. Only every fifth passenger who is going on a long-distance trip (over 1000 kilometers) chooses the train. The ticket price matters. If railway ticket in the chosen direction cheaper than an air ticket twice or more, then naturally most passengers will travel by train. We must not forget about those who travel with large “trunks”, as well as with bicycles, kayaks and other bulky sports equipment: if there is a lot of things, then it is almost always more profitable to travel by train than by plane.
According to UFS.Travel, for rail travel The capitals are especially in demand: Moscow and St. Petersburg. And for short trips young people and families with schoolchildren mainly choose reserved seat carriages: it attracts not only profitable price, but also updated carriages that have already begun to operate on some routes, sofas with headrests, USB ports, individual lighting and much more.
But those who are going on vacation to the Russian south, in 80% of cases prefer a plane, even over distances that are only a day away by train. Vacations have become shorter for many people, and it is more important for people to spend the day on vacation rather than on the road. “We even compiled the top routes with a preference for train or plane,” says Natalya Anisimova, head of the Tutu.ru public relations department. – So, in the top routes with preference for aircraft, the first place is travel from Moscow to Mineral water. About 95% of passengers travel there by air and only 5% take the train. The route St. Petersburg - Belgorod was at the top of the ranking with train preference. About 87% of passengers chose to travel by train, while the rest chose to fly.”
The passing year, and especially summer season, turned out to be special. They were coming to us for the World Cup, but where did we go?
According to the Pravda.Ru expert, ecotourism is not yet in demand here, prices for tour packages have fallen, but not in Russia, development domestic tourism due to our lack of domestic charters.
“Against the backdrop of the World Cup, our structure of the incoming flow has changed a little,” he noted in an interview with a Pravda.Ru correspondent. tourism expert, Doctor of Economics Alexander Bandurin. — And if we talk about Russians, then this year the economy class was in great demand, because citizens’ incomes are declining. Therefore they were very developed car travel, flew to where you can fly cheaply.
Türkiye remained a priority. Trips to Vietnam and Thailand have become cheaper, and hotels there are now a little cheaper. Our tourists began to book less through tour operators.
Ecotourism is now in its infancy. This is such a long-term trend. Now everything is traditional: the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, Montenegro. In a word, where you can go without a visa. Still, it turns out cheaper."
Offhand, anyone can identify such reference points in the tourism sector - these are both capitals: Moscow and St. Petersburg. However, in 2018 - on the wave World Cup- cities where football matches were held joined them. Why?
“After the World Cup, people very intensively went to see the venues, because the hotel infrastructure there had significantly improved,” says Alexander Bandurin.
This year Ekaterinburg came closest to the three classic destinations of tourist flows - Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan. It turns out that for Ural ridge We don’t have land for the European population of Russia?
Pravda.Ru’s interlocutor expresses hope that “the government will soon think of doing something about ticket prices to the Far East, Sakhalin and Kamchatka.
There is a lot of potential there, but travel is very expensive. Of course, an ordinary traveler or an elderly person will not go there.
I think that the northern and South coast our Northern Arctic Ocean will be in demand in the near future.
For example, the same Türkiye clearly controls prices for air tickets. They understand that they need to reduce prices, even dump them a little, thanks to government support.
After the elections, when Erdogan was re-elected president for a new term, he said that he would now develop tourism. And, unfortunately, we have a market... Therefore, it’s more expensive to fly to our Crimea, but it was impossible to fly to Sochi, when the World Cup was held.”
Answering a question from Pravda.Ru about the repeated promise of the Russian authorities (and at the highest level) to reduce prices for air travel by domestic flights, our interlocutor expressed fear of being a critic.
“In order to sharply criticize, the tools that our government uses to stimulate tourism must be clear. One of the striking examples: they prepared a site on Lake Baikal, built a road there, but business understands that people will not go there and does not build hotels.
It seems that money has been invested, everyone reported that some small program has been implemented to develop tourism on Lake Baikal, but in reality it is not developing, because tourists did not go there. This is the problem,” emphasized Alexander Bandurin.
A big problem in the development of Russian tourism is not only the high cost of tickets, but also the distances.
Expert Alexander Bandurin is confident that “until we create internal charters, which we don’t have in Russia yet,” the matter will not move forward.
“We have companies that operate regular flights, there are discounters, but there are no charters, so we have a very large flight. Flights take up a large share of the trip.
Unfortunately, until we begin to resolve this issue of domestic charters at the government level, at the level of the Ministry of Transport, or at some other level, prices will still be quite high."
Alexander Bandurin sees a way out: “We need to make tourism in Russia fashionable, especially for young people.
To do this, you need to make some efforts, and not develop tourism brands that are unknown to anyone.
What's the point that we developed the tourism brand "Russia"? What's next? For that part of the youth who can go, it is not fashionable to vacation in Russia. And it’s not fashionable because there are a number of factors.
The first factor is the low level of safety, the second is that there is no product that would be interesting for our youth. For example, there is no entertainment.
We have a lot of ski resorts that are interesting, but they need to build ski lifts, build proper hotels, and build infrastructure. Only fans ride all day.
The second part of the day should be filled with something else, maybe taking care of your health, or getting acquainted with educational things.
The system should be built, but unfortunately, this is happening slowly. It’s clear that investments are needed, but investments are very difficult.”
Interviewed by Lada Korotun
Prepared for publication by Igor Bukker
For many years now, Turkish resorts have remained leaders in the rankings popular countries for recreation among Russian tourists and travelers. According to experts in the tourism industry, this is due, first of all, to the optimal price-quality ratio. Turkey is also chosen by Russians who are afraid to fly to the currently restless Egypt and relatively expensive Thailand. And there you can improve your health at spa resorts, relieve fatigue in the hammam and enjoy a beach holiday. Read below about which other countries are included in the TOP 10 holiday destinations for Russian Internet users.
Travel preferences of Internet users
Compiling a rating by an Internet search engine allows you to find out what exactly potential travelers were interested in in a particular country. Internet search engine analysts summed up travel queries to get a rough picture of which countries were popular among Russian tourists in 2013.
As it turned out, the palm still belongs to Turkey. It is followed by Egypt, which is slowly regaining its popularity, which had fallen sharply due to the unstable political situation. Thailand, which was still a model of calm in October, is in third place in the ranking, while Italy is fourth.
Greece was only in fifth place, but in sixth place was Finland, which, with the onset of heavy snowfalls and cold weather, “felt” more and more confident. Cyprus is in seventh position, the United States is in eighth place. United Arab Emirates, the ninth place was chosen by the Czech Republic, and Spain completes the list.
Despite the fact that interest in this or that tourist destination does not mean that people are going on vacation to this country; the ranking of countries from Internet search engines allows you to find out what exactly potential travelers were interested in in these countries.
1. Türkiye
An interesting situation has developed with the leader of the country ranking. On the one hand, the number of requests decreased by half, on the other hand, at the end of 2013 Russian tourists broke another record for the number of vacationers on Turkish beaches.
It should be taken into account that the end of the year is far from the most popular period for holidays in Turkey. According to analysts of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, this state of affairs is due to the fact that many tourists who were planning to vacation in Egypt went to Turkey due to the unrest in the country of the pyramids. Of course, they were interested in a beach holiday.
2. Egypt
Despite political unrest, Egypt remains one of the most... popular destinations among Russian tourists. Most popular resort Sharm el-Sheikh ended up here, which, however, is not surprising, since the security situation there remained quite stable. Following it is another resort, which was practically not affected by the protests - Hurghada.
3. Thailand
According to search queries, residents of the cold regions of our country were most willing to fly to hot Thailand: Siberia and Far East. Tours during the New Year holidays were of greatest interest to tourists. At the same time, Phuket turned out to be the most popular resort.
4. Italy
If the top three were of interest to tourists solely from the point of view of a beach holiday, then in Italy ski resorts turned out to be attractive for our compatriots. Users most often considered Austria and Germany as alternatives to Italy. In addition, many were looking for a map of Italy in Russian, which suggests interest from outside independent travelers who prefer to travel around the country by car or travel by train.
5. Greece
Greece, compared to the end of 2013, received half as many requests. However, here users were not so much interested in Greek beaches as in shopping tours, as well as sightseeing trips around the country. At the same time, there were very few requests for pilgrimage tours for the entire month - about five hundred.
6. Finland
Finland interested Russian travelers primarily in connection with the approaching New Year holidays. In this case, preference was given to short tours lasting no more than three days.
Russians were also interested in ferry travel and Bus tours In this northern country. There were also a lot of requests for fishing in Finland. Tourists considered France and Hungary as an alternative to Finland, which is quite difficult to explain logically.
7. Cyprus
The interest of Russian tourists in Cyprus decreased somewhat by the end of the year, as noted in analytical reports. The reason for this is the completion high season. In addition, the number of requests for a Cyprus visa has also decreased by half. Users searched for Greece or Tunisia as an alternative to Cyprus.
8. UAE
Analysts attribute the increased number of requests for holidays in the Emirates to the same situation in Egypt - the number of requests has doubled, while users considered Thailand and China as alternatives to holidays in the UAE.
9. Czech
The interest of Russian tourists in the Czech Republic has decreased somewhat. However, the number of requests for tours with upcoming departure dates has increased noticeably, as has the demand for sightseeing tours.
At the same time, travelers showed the greatest interest not so much in flying or purchasing a tour, but in accommodation in the Czech Republic. This may also indicate that a sufficient number of independent tourists are showing interest in this country. As an alternative, tourists considered other European countries- France and Austria.
10. Spain
By the end of the year, this country also turned out to be a victim of the end of the high season - interest in it dropped so much that Spain moved from sixth place in the ranking of popular countries to tenth in just a month. There was also a change in the course of tourists’ interests: they switched from beaches to excursion holidays.
In addition, our Russian travelers were interested in the possibility of a holiday in Spain for New Year holidays. The most popular places Barcelona, Madrid and Tenerife ended up there. And as an alternative, users were interested in Goa, Turkey and Greece.
The list of countries that do not like tourists from Russia has expanded in recent years. At the same time, residents of those places that are becoming more and more popular among Russians as resorts have joined the ranks of Russophobes. Due to the bad behavior of some compatriots abroad, the stereotypical thinking of the “hosts” and differences in cultures, Russian tourists may encounter rudeness and aggression from the host country on vacation.
Baltics. Once in the Baltic countries, you will probably notice that the opinions about Russia and Russians contained in the local media reflect the opinions of ordinary citizens much more than is commonly believed. The image of Russia as an occupying country, which has been imposed on the Balts for about 20 years, has become firmly entrenched in the minds of young people and is perceived extremely negatively. Thus, a Russian who decides to vacation in Lithuania, Latvia or Estonia may encounter rudeness and rudeness. It will be better for you if you do not know local languages - you will save your nerves. It is especially not recommended to know what “Russian pig” sounds like in Latvian, Estonian or Lithuanian. “A friend living in Riga, seething with anger, voiced to me the comments Latvians made to us, based on the fact that we are both Russian tourists and do not know the language,” says Anna. “The most interesting thing is that when they say nasty things to us, smiled."
In order to local restaurants and cafes to be served not least, it is best to communicate with each other in English, experienced tourists from Russia advise. When communicating in Russian, you risk waiting for your order for as long as you like. “We were traveling on the Moscow-Vilnius train. When it was our turn in the dining car at the bar counter, the bartender began to serve the Estonian woman standing behind us, and both he and she showed with all their appearance that it could not be otherwise,” - says Irina.
Ukraine, more precisely, its western part. No matter how much you try to talk to the hotel staff or waiter in Russian, nothing will work; they will still answer you in Ukrainian - out of principle. No one here believes that a Russian tourist may really not know what chorna kava is. “I couldn’t communicate with the waiters at all,” says Alexey. “They didn’t react at all to my Russian remarks. Orders had to be made through my Kiev friend. For two days, not a single, indeed not a single, waiter answered my questions. requests made in Russian."
In Lviv, the Kryivka restaurant, dedicated to the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), is thriving. There are anti-Soviet and anti-Semitic posters on the walls, and the names of the dishes on the menu will not excite the appetite of every Russian: fried crucian carp “Muscovites drunken crucian carp,” buckwheat “Everyday Life of the Wehrmacht,” cocoa “Childhood of Stepan Bandera.” But in order to be able to examine the interior of “Kryivka” and get acquainted with the menu, you need to know the password to enter the establishment - the organizational greeting of a member of the Bandera movement “glory to Ukraine” (in response - “glory to the heroes”). After a successful exchange of code words, the guard will ask you to swear that you are not a Muscovite or a communist.
If during the day the health of a Russian tourist in Lviv, by and large, is not in danger, then at night you can run into ill-wishers based on nationality anywhere - even on Lvovsky Square opera house. An ill-wisher can be recognized by the loud cry of “Muscovites to knives!”, and it is better not to wait for what will follow him. “We were almost beaten in the very center of Lvov just because we were Russians. Militant-minded young people, having heard Russian speech, ran up to us, began shouting obscenities in broken Russian, offered to fight, accompanying their proposal with active gestures - so that we Apparently they understood,” says Alexey. “They fell behind when they found out that there were Ukrainians in our company - they decided to let us go in peace.”
Türkiye. How more rest in this country is gaining popularity among Russian tourists, the less local residents rejoice at their arrival. This is especially true for the female part of the population. Due to the thriving sex tourism in the country, women of Slavic appearance are increasingly faced with hostility from Turkish women. Turkish men are more supportive of Russian women, but they say about men that they do not understand what a family is, so they allow women to behave promiscuously. Turks often present complaints to Russians that have already become banal: a love of alcohol and fighting, an inability to behave at a buffet table. But there are also more original statements. “My wife doesn’t like Russians, she says that they all have AIDS,” a Turk selling souvenirs in a hotel shop shared with a Russian tourist. “After which the interlocutor hastened to assure me that this is nonsense, and he, of course, does not believe in it,” says Evgenia.
France, Courchevel b. Interest in ski resort Courchevel began to awaken among the Russians a few years after the collapse Soviet Union. Russian tourists of that time are, of course, strikingly different from the current visitors to this prestigious resort. But despite the fact that Russian oligarchs, who come to the Alps today are sophisticated, educated people with good taste; the French do not favor them and do not want to be neighbors with them during their vacation. Actually, no one wants to live next to Russians during the “Russian seasons” in Courchevel. The behavior of rich Russians seems too shocking and even indecent to Europeans. In January 2007, billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov was arrested at the fashionable Byblos hotel in the company of 7 women on suspicion of organizing a pimping network. True, then all charges against Prokhorov were dropped and they apologized for the detention; the French were unable to prove the indecency of the actions of the Russian tourists. However, they still don’t favor Russians, because they all wear T-shirts with the inscription “Russia”, every restaurant has a menu in Russian, and the vodka ordered at the bar is served with pickles without any questions asked. “And my French husband never tires of being surprised: where do they get so much money?!” says Daria, who has lived in Paris for 10 years.
For the period between New Year and Orthodox Christmas, as well as at the beginning of March, the British and the French themselves have to postpone their vacation in the French Alps. “The French say that during the “Russian seasons” they have nothing to do there, and sigh with nostalgia,” says Daria. “They believe that the Russians took Courchevel from them, and cannot forgive them for this.”
True, there is a small part of the French who are happy about the massive influx of Russians. These are service personnel who remember our compatriots with gratitude because of the colossal tips.
India, Goa. It looks like Russian tourists have fallen out of favor at their favorite resort. Tourist Honeymoon Goa with Russia is over, The Times of India stated in February. Russian tourist visas are either expired or extended for a small bribe. Russians do business in Goa, commit crimes, attack local residents and with such behavior terrify Indians and scare away tourists from other countries - jeopardizing the well-being of the state's tourism industry, the newspaper writes. "We've never had a problem before with the British, the Germans, the Scandinavians or even the hippies since the '70s," the newspaper quoted George Fernandez, president of the Association as saying. tourist taxis in Goa. - The Russians come and eat our bread. They are engaged in private transportation, meet their compatriots by car at the airport and do this under the guise of driving their friends. What, friends come to see them every week?!" Russian tourists are representatives of the lower classes of society, they are hostile by nature, they believe in Goa. The companies they created in Goa do not pay taxes, and Russians not only engage in crime themselves, but and represent a convenient environment for Indian criminals. Indian politicians do not deny that at one time they benefited from tourists from Russia, but they note that they lost even more. And local residents say that they will not tolerate hostile attacks from the Russians, and they promise. pay them in the same coin.