Tourist trips are becoming shorter but more regular. Statistics of Russians leaving the country according to Rosstat and the Russian Border Guard Service How many people travel every year

The average duration of tourist trips around the world has decreased and is now eight nights. The average cost per trip is $1,793. However, Russians prefer to stretch out the pleasure and travel for an average of ten days.

Visa presented another global study of travel preferences, the Visa Global Travel Intentions Study based on the results of 2017. The study analyzed international travel trends and preferences of more than 15 thousand people from 27 countries.

Main conclusions:

Trips are getting shorter, averaging eight nights, two days less than in 2013.
More often, only one country is visited per trip.
When traveling, technology is increasingly being used (Internet, navigators, mobile maps, searching for travel companions, etc.).

The list of the most visited countries at the end of 2017 was headed by Japan, the USA and Australia. Japan took the lead due to its popularity among tourists from the Asia-Pacific region. Residents of this region love to travel and there are more of them than in other regions of the world. Therefore, these preferences determined the leader of the rating.

The study also revealed what is important to tourists from different regions. For example, Europeans want to enrich themselves culturally and hope for good weather. Americans need leisure and cultural events. For tourists from the Asia-Pacific region, it is important that the holiday destination is easy to reach and that it is familiar. Representatives of the Middle East and Africa are interested in active recreation and are concerned about the travel budget.

On average, tourists spend $1,793 per trip per person, and most take $778 in cash.

Tourists from Saudi Arabia($5333), Kuwait ($3143), China ($2988), Australia ($2745) and UAE ($2722).

The preferences of the Russians who took part in the study differ significantly from the world average. Thus, they travel 4.3 times a year (the world average is 2.5 trips per year). The average duration of one trip is ten days. This is longer than the global indicator, but one day less than what Russians spent on one trip in 2015.

At the same time, the average Russian traveler spends $1676 on one trip. Interestingly, in 2015, Russians spent significantly more - $2,730 per trip.

Most often, study participants from Russia visit Turkey, Thailand, Greece, Italy, the Czech Republic and Germany.

91% of Russians use mobile devices to access the Internet abroad, which is more than the world average (88%) and significantly more than in Europe (78%). Interestingly, when traveling, Russians use ATMs less often than Europeans (7% versus 17%), but they withdraw more cash (on average $547 versus $346).

Visa predicts that people will travel more frequently over the next two years, with the number of trips per year increasing from 2.5 to 2.7. They will also spend more - this figure is expected to grow by 36.25%, to $2,443, and for Russians - by 5%.

- Yuri Alexandrovich, last week you attended a meeting dedicated to the development of tourism in Russia. According to the president, 80% of tour sales today are carried out through travel agencies. But haven’t we already crossed the line when the tourist has become completely independent? When can he book his own ticket and hotel?

Indeed, today about 70–80% of tours are sold through tour operators. Is it true, we're talking about about tours abroad. On the domestic market, this figure is significantly lower, although this year and partly last year it has changed. Sales volumes on the outbound market fell significantly (in some directions the decline was more than 50%), while on the domestic market, on the contrary, they increased: 30% in the black. And this is explained not only and not so much by patriotic sentiments, but by the economic situation in the country. As a result, a number of the largest tour operators who previously worked only on outbound trips (such as PEGAS Touristik, "Biblio Globus", Coral Travel, ANEX Tour), entered the domestic market. The main thing they brought when they started selling tours around Russia is, of course, the formation of package tours, which, in addition to accommodation, already include travel to the vacation spot, transfer, and even excursions.

Vice-President of the Russian Union of Tourism Industry Yuri Barzykin. Photo: Pavel Pelevin/website

- It turns out that traveling around Russia with a tour operator is now cheaper than traveling on your own?

It turns out so. However, it is worth clarifying that we are talking more about mass directions, and this especially applies to the Black Sea coast. Most Russians prefer beach holiday, and not being able to travel abroad, people go to Crimea and the Krasnodar Territory. If we are talking about these areas, then now package tours it's much cheaper there. So, for example, a week of rest in some Sochi “three ruble” with breakfast and flights can cost 17,500 rubles. A room for two is 30,000. That is, these are absolutely competitive prices.

- Yes, but this is still a beach holiday. What about other areas?

Take Kazan - everything has been put on the right track there for a long time. Especially after the Universiade. What about Vladivostok and Russky Island? New projects are being launched in the North-West, which is represented not only by St. Petersburg. I recently returned from Perm and visited the Pskov region. The matter moved from a dead point. Economy class accommodation facilities and small hotels with ten to twenty rooms are appearing. Often this is a family business that is developing very well.

It turns out that you can now relax inexpensively and in acceptable conditions only where, let’s say, everything is small and cozy? And it makes no sense to renovate huge Soviet boarding houses in Crimea - will it still be more expensive?

Each case must be considered separately. Indeed, sometimes there is no point in renovating objects, and sometimes there is. There would be investors. Today, 99% of investors are private companies. And they will think a hundred times before investing money somewhere. And small accommodation facilities always mean a quick payback. True, in a global sense this is not a solution to the issue. After all, the payback of objects is achieved by their occupancy, and small accommodation facilities will still not be enough for everyone. Therefore, if we are talking about the tourism industry as a whole, then we still cannot do without international hotel chains. They came to Sochi with difficulty, but now, look, Hyatt, Swissotel, and Rixos are there. I am sure that over time this will be the case in Crimea.

Crimea. Evpatoria. Photo: Igor Stomakhin/website

- But there is no appropriate infrastructure there yet.

Exactly. What kind of investors can we talk about when even with parking lots for tourist buses are there problems? When there is no way to either load or unload tourists in an organized manner. And this, by the way, applies not only to Crimea: in Moscow, for example, parking areas are determined every time with a fight. True, if earlier there was more and more talk, now there has been a transition from words to action. The approach is changing, the cities are changing. This is why tourism is good: it works both for those who live in these cities and for those who come to them.

The famous travel blogger Sergei Dolya some time ago addressed his subscribers with an offer to participate in the creation of a tourism logo for Russia. There is an opinion that at tourism exhibitions abroad, Russia’s stand usually looks indistinct. They say that it does not have a single idea and a single message. Can the diversity of our country be summed up in one idea? Or is it not even worth trying?

It's certainly worth a try. Closely engaged, I would say. As for exhibitions, before we all stood separately: Moscow on its own, St. Petersburg on its own, Krasnodar region by myself. Now we act in a consolidated manner, and our stands look very decent. And then, exhibitions are not only the exhibitions themselves. This is a whole series of events. And the programs that Russia presents at world tourism exhibitions - in London and Berlin, Tokyo and Shanghai - are always extremely popular. You are right, it is not easy to promote a brand because it is too diverse and bright. But even those images that have already been formed, such as nesting doll spoons, can be used wisely.

- Is it really possible to interest someone else in this?

Russia is remarkable in that its tourism product for each market - Chinese, European or, for example, American - can look completely different. For example, for residents of China, which has now taken first place in the number of tourists entering our country (previously the leadership belonged to Germany - author's note), “red tourism” is extremely interesting, that is, everything connected with Lenin and the revolution. Europeans are more interested in nature and historical and cultural potential. For Koreans and Japanese, everything related to art and especially ballet is a must. Not so long ago, as part of the work of the PCT, new program- “Space Russia”. A flight into space will cost you $20 million, or even more. And in order to come to Moscow, Korolev and Kaluga and visit the planetarium, our institutes and museums of astronautics, you don’t need much money, especially taking into account the current exchange rate. Especially in the summer, when the level of business activity is reduced and when prices for capital hotels, even 4 and 5 star categories, are pleasantly pleasing to the eye.

Kaluga. State Museum history of astronautics. Photo: Igor Stomakhin/website

Let's go back to the regions. In your opinion, promoting your own territories, which includes working with tour operators and clearing out train stations and airports, is still the task of the local community. But how can this local community be interested? Only money?

Well, why not, not only. Understand that there are no unpromising regions: one way or another, everyone is involved and everyone is trying. To the best of my ability, of course, but still. Interest in promoting one's own territories has grown significantly, and if earlier I asked to tell at least something about the region, now there is no need to ask. They will tell and show everything themselves. True, you won’t go far with words alone: after all, no matter how much you say “halva,” it won’t make your mouth any sweeter. Systematic program actions, personnel and resource decisions are needed to make territories more attractive. Tourism is interesting because it is not only an economic sphere, but also a social one. First of all, this is a driver for the intellectual growth of the population that will be employed in this area. Institutions must work so that they can train such personnel.

As for the personnel, everything is sad, in my opinion. Everyone expected a new generation to come with a European approach. And then it came, but with the same Soviet one. Is this problem in the approach to education in the field of tourism or is it in the mentality?

The task of staffing any major event: be it the Olympics, APEC or the 1000th anniversary of Kazan - is comparable in importance to the task of preparing infrastructure. So, in good hotel There must be at least one attendant per visitor. Or even two. Universities train such personnel - both line and senior level, but adapting them to the needs of the tourism sector is very difficult. All the same, for large events it is necessary to use volunteers and those who work on shifts.

At a meeting of the State Council, the head of the Federal Tourism Agency Oleg Safonov spoke about the development of cruise and yacht tourism. Afterwards, the industry seems to have never fully recovered. Does the federal target program for tourism development include funds to change the situation for the better? What do the tour operators themselves say?

Today, on our rivers there are practically no ships under 40 years old, and new ones are not being built: the wear and tear of the fleet is obvious. But there are already programs that involve renovations in this area. One of the primary tasks is the restoration of cruises on the Black Sea. Yalta and Sevastopol, cities that used to receive more than a hundred flights a year, are now under sanctions. Therefore, no one except us will sail to them now. There were a lot of cruises from abroad, and restoring this flow is very important. And in general, the transition to cross-border integrated products (when people come to one territory and visit another at the same time) should not be underestimated. Indeed, in this situation, the territories will not have to compete, and they will be interested in combining their potentials.

Republic of Crimea. Sevastopol. Photo: Igor Stomakhin/website

Please tell us in more detail about the “50+” program, which was also mentioned at the State Council meeting. Sounds very intriguing.

In fact, the program, which essentially consists of providing discounts to pensioners, is not new. It was previously implemented by some of our tour operators on the outbound market. And people “who are in favor” or “not really in favor” participated in this program with pleasure, since this is an absolutely understandable consumer segment for the market. They have motivation to travel: such tourists are more inquisitive, they go on excursions more and devote a lot of time to health. In other words, they consume a certain set additional services. The program is gradually gaining momentum in the domestic market. In many ways, it is becoming popular due to subsidized transportation and the optimal price/quality ratio for accommodation.

- In this whole story, for some reason, there is no emphasis on medical and health tourism. Why?

The health resort complex and medical and recreational resources are our main competitive advantage. You can just lie down and sunbathe in Greece and Turkey, but no one has such therapeutic and health-improving methods as we have. In the Soviet Union, 45–50% of the total number of vacationers went to sanatoriums. Today this figure has dropped to 15–20%, and it needs to be returned. Mud, mineral waters and other health resources still remain unclaimed, because the maintenance of this entire complex is an expensive affair. Previously, everything was sponsored by the state, but now much is put on a “private track.” Therefore, although the pearl remains a pearl, it is, alas, tarnished. That is, there are many factors for competitiveness, and the task now is not just to create a product, but also to sell it.

- How many Russians travel around the country today? Are there such statistics?

Today, about 30% of our fellow citizens travel around Russia (from the total population - author's note), 12% of the total travel abroad, and 42% do not travel anywhere at all. No money. More than 70% want to go somewhere. That is, this is deferred demand, which can only be realized with the direct participation of the state. Let's call this “social tourism”. No direction - be it Black Sea coast, North-West, Baikal, Crimea or Siberia - will not be able to develop if there are not enough people who could pay for it. Therefore, the first task is transport and economic accessibility to tourism resources. The second is the formation of the product of territories. It’s not for nothing that we are among the top five world leaders in cultural, historical, natural and recreational potential.

There are a lot of tasks, and too many words. Should we expect any significant changes in the tourism sector after the State Council meeting?

The meeting of the State Council is a serious impetus for the development of tourism in our country. Guidelines and main directions are given. No matter what anyone says, the state should always make its contribution first. And we need to start with infrastructure. After all, then a businessman will come and build a hotel, or even a factory. This area provides an excellent opportunity for comprehensive development. And I think that the priorities were chosen absolutely correctly. All that remains, as they say, is to wash, comb and look differently. Well, finally start to think. There is no way without this.

The Yandex.Travel service studied how the preferences of Russians have changed and where they traveled most often in 2018.

This year, the popularity of Hungary and Georgia among domestic tourists has increased the most: the share of these countries in requests has increased by 5–6%. Among resort destinations, only the UAE rose in the list. More countries worsened their position in the ranking. For example, Turkey - the second most popular travel destination after Uzbekistan - received a quarter fewer requests.

The most popular cities For flights, along with Moscow and St. Petersburg, Sochi and Simferopol became. At the same time, the tourist preferences of residents of the regions differ: for example, in Novosibirsk they often look for tickets to Bangkok, in Yekaterinburg - to Prague, and in Chelyabinsk they choose Antalya.

Muscovites most often fly to Sochi, Simferopol, St. Petersburg, Yerevan, Krasnodar, Mineral water, Anapa, Chisinau, Osh and Tashkent.

The most popular date for traveling by plane was September 5: tickets for this day were searched for 930 thousand times. The fewest requests - 154 thousand - were for flights on January 28. Users are most interested in traveling from May to September.

Most cheap ticket in the past year it cost 499 rubles (flight Moscow - Kaluga), and the most expensive one was 65 thousand rubles for a flight from Moscow to Vladivostok.

As for traveling by train, residents of cities with a population of over a million most travel to Moscow and St. Petersburg or to cities nearby. Russians rarely travel abroad by train: they prefer to travel from Moscow to Minsk, and from St. Petersburg to Helsinki.

The top 10 most popular destinations for traveling by train look like this: St. Petersburg, Sochi, Nizhny Novgorod, Anapa, Yaroslavl, Kazan, Voronezh, Vladimir, Minsk, Bryansk.

The cheapest ride in 2018 was by train from Obninskoye station to Maloyaroslavets - 44 rubles. The most expensive ticket was found in a sleeping car from Surgut to Moscow - 62,376 rubles.

Having analyzed hotel search queries, experts recognized hotels as the most popular Krasnodar region. There is also high demand for housing in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kazan, the remaining places are distributed between southern cities Russia and Turkey. They also looked for hotels abroad in Thailand, the UAE, Greece, Spain, Tunisia, Belarus, the Czech Republic and Cyprus.

According to Rosstat, in 2016 the number of tourist trips abroad by Russians amounted to 31.7 million. This is almost 8% less than in 2015. And according to Border Service, in 2016, the number of departures from Russia specifically for the purpose of tourism decreased significantly more than Rosstat data show.

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Compared to 2015, departures fell by 18.5% and amounted to 9 million 873 thousand trips. This is 2 million 234.1 thousand less than in 2015.

Below the article there is a comparative table on the number of tourist trips abroad in 2014–2016.

Let us recall that since 2014 Rosstat has been publishing statistics in accordance with the recommendations of the World Health Organization. tourism organization(UNWTO), which considers tourists not only those who declare tourism as the purpose of their trip, but also those traveling by private invitation, on business, for treatment, neighboring country for groceries or other goods, etc.

And according to Rosstat statistics, the top ten vacation destinations for Russians are as follows: Abkhazia, Finland, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, China, Estonia, Poland, Germany, Thailand, Cyprus. Which, according to the travel industry, is only partly true.

A slightly different picture is painted by the data of the Border Service, which divides the outbound flow by purpose of travel. This includes trips for the purpose of tourism, and it is this indicator that we have been analyzing for many years, comparing the dynamics with previous years.

Figures received from the Border Service of the Russian Federation helped to understand that of the notorious 31.7 million tourist trips abroad, according to Rosstat, more than 21 million are so-called private trips. And if departures for the purpose of tourism decreased by 18.5%, then private ones - by only 2.4%. Apparently, this is the reason for the relatively small decrease in the number of “tourist trips” according to Rosstat.

In general, private trips make up the largest share of the total outbound flow from Russia. In 2016 - 38%. In second place are trips for tourism purposes - 29%. Further service personnel, crews Vehicle- 6%. Then business, then military personnel, then permanent residence.

Tourist departures from Russia have been declining since 2014. The hardest year was 2015, when tourist flows fell by 31%, which was the largest drop since 1998. 2016 turned out to be better, although it was not easy either.

Turkey was closed almost until the end of July last year, and Egypt has been closed since November 2015 and is still closed. Other destinations took away pieces of the Turkish and Egyptian pie, and in this situation, for the first time in many years, the top ten most popular destinations among Russians changed significantly. Now the top 10 looks like this: Thailand, China, Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Tunisia, Italy, Germany, Bulgaria, Turkey.

Thailand came out on top for the first time. This direction has been in the top 10 since 2007, and last years stayed in 5th–6th place, and in 2016 immediately jumped from sixth to first.

And Tunisia and Bulgaria “for the first time in their lives” entered the top ten leaders in the Russian market.

Turkey, which has consistently occupied the first line of the ranking since 2002, thanks to its return to the top ten at the end of July, although it dropped to 10th place.

The largest increase in the top ten, and indeed in the entire list at the end of the year, was shown by Tunisia, it grew by 1327%. This is compared to 2015, when due to terrorist attacks practically lost the incoming tourist flow; about 41 thousand tourists visited there from Russia. But compared to the prosperous 2014, Tunisia increased by 140%.

In second place in the top ten in terms of growth dynamics is China (60%), which has been steadily declining since 2011, and with Turkey closed, it suddenly grew - most likely thanks to charters from different Russian cities to beach island Hainan.

In third place is Cyprus (55.5%), which has also been falling since 2014. Thailand and Bulgaria grew by 38% and 37% respectively. Greece grew by 23.5%.

In general, according to the list, many European Germany, France, Switzerland lost part of the Russian tourist flow. Austria, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Belgium.

They grew up mainly beach destinations- UAE, Vietnam, Montenegro, Israel, India, Dominican Republic, Georgia, Cuba, Morocco.

It seems that the closure of Egypt and Turkey was a kind of triumph for these areas. Everything and everyone is compared to them, and everyone understands that in a difficult economic situation, only in the absence of these two countries were other beach destinations able to grow. This also applies to domestic tourism.

The total departure of Russians abroad in 2016 amounted to 33.8 million trips - 8% less than in 2015.

Traveling abroad for tourism in 2016

according to the Border Service

(thousand trips)

Preliminary results of outbound tourism for 9 months of 2017.

countries visited by Russian tourists in 2017, according to statistics of outbound trips from Russia for 9 months from January 1 to September 30, 2017.

outbound tourism 2017 shows that outbound trips from Russia abroad increased by almost a third. In 2017, outbound tourism grew by 20%-30% according to the most popular destinations Europe and South-East Asia.

The number of outbound tourist trips from Russia for 9 months of 2017 increased by 27% to 30.972 million from 24.314 million for 9 months of 2016 according to the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat), which is almost equal to the number of outbound tourist trips from Russia abroad in 2016 at 31.7 million

Top 10 foreign countries popular with Russian tourists in 2017, the number of outbound tourist trips from Russia based on the results of 9 months was Turkey (3.944 thousand trips), Abkhazia (3.493 thousand), Finland (2.481 thousand), Kazakhstan (2.326 thousand), Ukraine (1.706 thousand), China (1,478 thousand), Estonia (1,285 thousand), Poland (929 thousand), Germany (918 thousand) and Georgia (802 thousand).

According to TourStat, in 2017 Türkiye is the leader in foreign trips Russian tourists. For 9 months of 2017, the number of trips by Russians to Turkey amounted to more than 3.9 million, which is 8 times more than for 9 months of 2016.

Turkey (3.944 million trips, +717% compared to 9 months of 2016), China (1.478 million, +25%) and Georgia (802 thousand, +35%) showed the highest growth in the number of outbound tourist trips in 2017 in the first ten countries popular among Russian tourists.

Beach destinations in Southeast Asia: Thailand (706 thousand, +26%) and Vietnam (360 thousand, +27%), Caribbean: Dominican Republic(Dominican Republic) (165 thousand, +117%) and Cuba (53 thousand, +130%) and the Middle East: UAE (454 thousand, +41%) and Israel (256 thousand, +20%) showed the most high growth of outbound tourism from Russia over 9 months of 2017.

Outbound tourism from Russia in 2017 increased to the most popular European excursion, resort and beach destinations: Spain (794 thousand, +19%), Italy (713 thousand, +28%), France (368 thousand, +22% ), Czech Republic (358 thousand, +42%) and Austria (185 thousand +37%) based on the results of 9 months of the year.

Outbound tourism in The CIS and the former USSR in 2017 grew to Azerbaijan (567 thousand, +16%), Armenia (279 thousand, +32%) and Moldova (205 thousand, +28%) based on the results of 9 months of the year, as well as Georgia (802 thousand, +35%).

Outbound tourism from Russia to the Baltic countries (Baltic) in 2017 increased to Estonia (1.285 thousand, +15%) and Latvia (301 thousand, +12%), but decreased to Lithuania (501 thousand, -8%) based on the results of 9 months of the year.

outbound tourism in 2017 is presented below.

: Most Popular foreign countries among Russian tourists in 2017 (based on the number of outbound tourist trips for 9 months of 2017):

Türkiye, 3,944 thousand (+717% from 483 thousand) *
Abkhazia, 3.493 thousand (+1%)
Finland, 2,481 thousand (+17%)
Kazakhstan, 2.326 thousand (+3.5%)
Ukraine, 1,706 thousand (+24%)
China, 1,478 thousand (+25%)
Estonia, 1,285 thousand (+14.5%)
Poland, 929 thousand (+11%)
Germany, 918 thousand (+19%)
Georgia, 802 thousand (+35%)
Spain, 794 thousand (+19%)
Greece, 792 thousand (+10%)
Cyprus, 738 thousand (+7%)
Italy, 713 thousand (+28%)
Thailand, 706 thousand (+26%)
Azerbaijan, 567 thousand (+16%)
Lithuania, 501 thousand (-8%)
Bulgaria, 463 thousand (-11%)
Tunisia, 458 thousand (-18%)
UAE, 454 thousand (+41%)
France, 368 thousand (+22%)
Vietnam, 360 thousand (+37%)
Czech Republic, 358 thousand (+42%)
South Ossetia, 332 thousand (0%)
Latvia, 301 thousand (+12%)
Montenegro, 288 thousand (+8%)
Armenia, 279 thousand (+32%)
Israel, 256 thousand (+20%)
Republic of Moldova, 205 thousand (+28%)
Kyrgyzstan, 199 thousand (+15%)
UK, 196 thousand (+23%)
Austria, 185 thousand (+37%)
USA, 182 thousand (+9%)
Switzerland, 182 thousand (+5%)
Republic of Korea, 169 thousand (+19%)
Netherlands, 166 thousand (+30%)
Dominican Republic, 165 thousand (+117%)
India, 127 thousand (+49%)
Uzbekistan, 93 thousand (+22%)
Tajikistan, 91 thousand (+6%)
Norway, 86 thousand (+13%)
Hungary, 79 thousand (+13%)
Mongolia, 68 thousand (+26%)
Belgium, 65 thousand (+23%)
Qatar, 57 thousand (+24%)
Cuba, 53 thousand (+130%)
Serbia, 58 thousand (0%)
Croatia, 54 thousand (+4%)
Japan, 49 thousand (+44%)
Sweden, 43 thousand (+39%)
Jordan, 36 thousand (+33%)
Portugal, 32 thousand (+60%)
Denmark, 25 thousand (-11%)
Slovakia, 22 thousand (+6%)
Maldives, 21 thousand (+24%)
Singapore, 20 thousand (+5%)
Morocco, 18 thousand (-36%)
Slovenia, 15 thousand (+25%)
Hong Kong, 13 thousand (-19%)
Romania, 9 thousand
Other countries, 99 thousand

* The change in the number of outbound tourist trips for 9 months of 2017 compared to 9 months of 2016 is indicated in brackets.

For as long as I can remember, after returning from another trip, my friends always interrogate me - how much do you earn, where do you work, do you have any other vacancies? The guys say that, at best, they manage to get away somewhere for 2-3 weeks once a year, and they don’t understand how I can travel so often. Where to get time and money?

I started traveling since 2005. First I traveled around Russia, the CIS countries and Crimea. After a couple of years, the number of trips per year was at least 5-7 and was constantly increasing. I traveled around cities and countries, sometimes with some friends, sometimes with others, even traveling alone several times.

My friends always joked that I must be working as the general director of Gazprom, since I can afford to travel so often. For example, they saw that in the winter I went to St. Petersburg, in the spring to Egypt, Kyiv and Rostov, and in the summer I had already visited Sevastopol 2 times. Then we met Katya, I told her my “secrets” and we began to travel even more actively. Next summer we visited Mexico, in the fall the Emirates and Cyprus, New Year celebrated in Egypt, went to India and Vietnam in the spring...

We saw 6 countries in 1 year, not counting trips around Russia. At the same time, we both worked in the office and received 30 thousand rubles each.

Where does the money come from? How much do you earn?? Is it possible to get a similar position at your company??? — I’ve been hearing questions like these for years now. And when Katya and I left for, my friends immediately realized that I was the owner of an oil well

Isn't it expensive to travel?

You won't believe it, but most people still think that traveling is very expensive. Only wealthy people can afford to go on holiday abroad or to Crimea several times a year. They simply don’t believe you when you say that you work at a very ordinary job, and not in the State Duma, and they pay you an average salary there, no more than others. Also, no one believes that a trip to Egypt can be bought for $500; they don’t believe that in a month in Thailand or Sri Lanka we spend less than ordinary tourist squanders in a week. Where do such prejudices come from?

Egypt, Luxor

For example, remember which travel agency you asked about a trip to Egypt, when they charged you $700 for a 3-star hotel without meals? You probably went to a shopping center and asked the office of some well-known large travel agency. I don’t know why these companies so blatantly increase prices by 3 times, but a ticket to such a hotel costs a maximum of 200 bucks.

One of my friends told me how she had a wonderful holiday in Turkey in a five-star all-inclusive hotel and paid $1,200 per person for everything... I always want to ask these people, where do you find such high prices?? Do you specifically go to travel agencies and buy the tour that is the most expensive? I don’t understand how it was possible to shell out a few bucks for Turkey. A trip to any 5-star hotel in Turkey costs a maximum of $500-700.

When we set our sights on Mexico, I walked into one of the offices of a well-known travel agency. I remember that they then calculated me $4,500 per person. At the same time, they said that this is still low price as it goes early booking half a year ahead. They also added that Mexico is a wonderful country and you definitely need to save money for it. I could hardly contain my laughter. The next day we bought tickets from another travel agency for $1,300 per person and a week later we were already in Cancun.

Mexico, Cancun

Why did I write these examples? In all cases, it can be seen that people do not know the real cost of vouchers and have no idea where to buy them. More on this a little later, but now let’s talk about the most important thing, money.

Where can I order a transfer from the airport?

We use the service - KiwiTaxi
We ordered a taxi online and paid by card. We were met at the airport with a sign with our name on it. We were taken to the hotel in a comfortable car. You've already talked about your experience In this article

Where to get money for travel

"Wow! You've been to Mexico! Lucky guys! I’ll never save up for this country!” - said one of my friends and took out his latest model iPhone to show photos of the new car...

Try to give up mindless consumption first

Now we all live in an era of consumption of material goods. As soon as you turn on the radio or TV, a barrage of advertising immediately hits you.

Gadgets

Buy a new seven-core tablet! Unprecedented discounts on smartphones until the end of summer! Just now buy an iPhone with a discount of 199 rubles! New laptop for the new school year! Widescreen curved TV for only 99 thousand rubles! Hurry up! Hurry! Buy all this high-tech junk!…

Consider that every new gadget is minus one trip. You think, okay, now I’ll buy myself a new smartphone and on my next vacation I’ll definitely have a rest. And by the next vacation something new will appear. The new Lenovo Yoga tablet is half an inch wider than yours and for only 19,990! We must take it, the journey can wait...

Think about why you actually need a new smartphone? You bought yours half a year ago. All the same, you will not use anything except the phone function, SMS, music, selfie camera and a couple of applications, such as VKontakte and Instagram...

Coffee shops and sushi bars

Now all kinds of sushi bars, coffee shops, restaurants are in fashion - how often do you visit such establishments? About 5 times a month, right? Each visit costs at least 1000 rubles. Don’t go to such cafes for just a month and you’ll already free up 5 thousand rubles. Multiply by the number of warm months in a year. It turns out that if at least in spring and summer you meet friends in nature, and not in bars, you can save the cost of the whole trip!

When you travel, you go to restaurants every day just to eat.

I personally do not experience any aesthetic pleasure from going to restaurants. I go to these establishments only for their intended purpose - when I’m hungry and need to eat. Also in the cold season we meet with friends in bars. Another thing that makes me feel uncomfortable in a cafe is the realization that their kitchen is a mess, unsanitary and expired food. By the way, this year there was one program on TV that confirmed my guesses.

Unnecessary clothes

How much unwanted clothing do you have and where did you buy it? Don't answer, probably in some way mall. But that’s normal; you shouldn’t buy it on the market. The question is rather how much extra clothes you have already bought that you have never worn or only worn a couple of times in the entire time. Why were these clothes bought? Most of I bought things “out of nothing to do” because “I wanted some new things.”

“Shopping is the best cure for stress,” as they assure us from the TV screen, although this statement is completely baseless, it is simply very beneficial for some people. Conquer your shopaholism and you’ll free up even more money for travel!

I believe that I do not suffer from shopaholism. I have been wearing almost all of my things for several years now and have not yet felt the desire to replace them. And why, if the thing still retains its properties, is not torn, has not faded. For example, I have shorts that I bought in Thailand in 2011 for 300 baht. Our regular readers have probably noticed that I’m wearing the same shorts in all the photos.

Furniture, renovation and cottage

Repairs and a summer house are two gaps through which your money has been leaking for years. Tell me, do you often visit a famous Swedish furniture store? Have you ever wondered if you really need those thick scented candles or that blanket with an unpronounceable name? Do you really believe that you really need this unpainted rack for 4990 at your dacha?

Part 2 Coming soon to the blog!

I've given you a few things to think about where you can get money for travel if you consciously approach your expenses and lifestyle. Because, as usually happens, we earn something from our jobs, but there is never any money, there is nothing to save. Re-read these options and think about what you can reduce or eliminate. If you are thinking about taking out a loan for a new TV, give up this idea. Finally stop investing in a car and a summer house.

In the second part of the article, I will talk about practical examples of how to find time to travel if you work in an office as a hired worker 5 days a week, where to buy trips and not overpay, what you can save on while traveling so that you have more money left for excursions and there are many more useful things.

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That's all for today. Thank you for your attention! I hope I was able to convey my message to you and help you learn something new. Although, I didn’t say anything particularly new; many people already know all this. If you have anything to add, something is not clear, or you disagree with some statements, write your questions in the comments.