RUSSIA. ForwardKeys has identified trends in Russian flight bookings which suggest a strong rebound for the country’s domestic tourism market in 2021.
The travel data analyst revealed that for the first four months of 2021, tickets issued for domestic travel in Russia reached 88% of 2019 volumes by 20 January this year.
Examining the top destinations in Russia, ForwardKeys said that cities such as Sochi, Novosibirsk and Kaliningrad are increasing in popularity as destinations for “people keen to explore their local and vast backyard in Russia”.
ForwardKeys Senior Analyst Loren Garcia said: “Assuming that no additional lockdown measures are imposed, there is a good chance that volumes for Russian domestic travel could reach and even surpass 2019 levels during the first four months of the year.”
She added: “Last minute bookings are one of the rising trends since the pandemic started, so the number of tickets is expected to grow faster than before, closer to the travel date.”
Assessing outbound Russian travel, ForwardKeys revealed a much bleaker picture. For Russian departures to international destinations for visits of at least one night, its data shows that air tickets issued on 10 Feb 2021 to travel between January and April 2021 were down by -83.7% year-on-year.
The data analyst did, however, note some more promising air travel trends concerning the Russian holiday destinations of Dubai and the Maldives. ForwardKeys noted that when Russia lifted its travel ban to the UAE on 3 September 2020, air tickets to Dubai quickly started to pick up.
It said the increase was most noticeable from the beginning of November and reached 2019 levels in January 2021. “Over the years, the UAE has been an increasingly popular destination for Russians, particularly during their cold winter season,” said Garcia.
Looking at arrivals to the destination for the last quarter of 2020, ForwardKeys’ ticketing data shows that Russians have been enjoying longer stays in Dubai. The average number of nights spent in Dubai almost doubled, going from an average of 4.7 nights in Q4 2019 to 8.2 nights in Q4 2020.
Meanwhile, ForwardKeys revealed that the Maldives has become the “hottest destination” for Russian travellers at the start of 2021. As per bookings issued by 20 January for travel up to 21 April, tickets to the Maldives were advancing the fastest, ahead by +68.5%, while tickets for total international travel lagged by -87% when compared to 2020 levels.
Garcia concluded: “All this data on the diminishing numbers of international departures acts to highlight a key trend that is here to stay in 2021 – this will be the year of expanding new business opportunities on your local markets through domestic tourism.”
