According to a new report by the Association of Tour Operators in Russia (ATOR), holiday bookings during the early booking sales period are to Turkey. “Russian tourists have missed Turkey. The Russian citizens want to benefit from early reservation discounts,” ATOR said.
The effect of increasing demand, the strengthening of the ruble and big discounts on accommodation are the main reasons of such high demand, according to the leading tour operators.
According to Russian tour operators, early booking period for Turkish hotels started earlier than usual. Some Turkish resorts began early booking in September and as a result today Turkey's share in total number of tours sold is 50%. The domestic markets share today fell to 25%, which was 80% last year this period. The remaining 25% of sales accounts for Greece, Bulgaria, Spain, etc..
According to TUI Russia, Russian tourists are missing holiday in Turkey, and this season, want to secure a pre-summer vacation, especially taking into account the discounts for early booking. Representatives of the operator noted that compared to the same period of reservation in 2015, Turkey demand has grown more than twice. Most popular tours are in the lead with arrivals in May, then in June and July, but there is a good amount of reservations with arrival and during September and October, which are not specifically happened in the booking period of 2015.
One of the main reasons for strong growth in demand for Turkey is attractive prices that hoteliers offered to their Russian partners. Discounts on accommodation, depending on hotel rates, are up to 50%. The average cost of a week tour in Antalya at the beginning of June and hotel accommodation at 3-4 star hotels is around 30-34 thousand Rubles. According to the operators, it is one of the lowest prices on the summer tour at the moment.
Source: Ator
