Tour operators have raised prices for Turkey, as they previously did with Crimea and Sochi
The opening of flights with Turkey the day before caused a rush of demand among Russian residents. Tour operators took advantage of the situation and sharply raised prices, as they did before with Crimea and Sochi, Russian media write today.
“Excessive demand allows tour operators to almost uncontrollably raise prices for Turkish holidays, as they did previously with the Russian south,” notes the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper.
The publication found that prices for trips to Turkish hotels have almost doubled over the past few days. Many hotels are already on “stop” until the end of the velvet season.
The Kommersant newspaper reports that simultaneously with the opening of Turkey, booking volumes in southern Russia have sharply decreased. Covid restrictions also played a role in this.
“Tourists often refuse to travel to regions where a vaccination certificate is required to check into a hotel... hotel bookings have completely stopped in Sevastopol, where, by decision of local authorities, from July 16, you can check in there only with a vaccination certificate or a certificate of the presence of antibodies. Half of the bookings already made will be cancelled,” the publication said.
These data are confirmed by market participants surveyed by the Izvestia newspaper.
“After the resumption of flights with Turkey and the flooding in Crimea, sales of tours to the south of Russia decreased by half, to Yalta - fourfold... The reduction in prices on the Black Sea coast will begin no earlier than July 15, it will be 5-10%, in August - 20%, by this time there will be many more hotels available,” the publication writes.
However, experts interviewed by RBCDaily believe that prices will also fall in Turkey.
“Demand for Turkey will be “explosive” in the first two weeks after the resumption of flights, and then will reach the level of 2019, the Last Minute Travel Store predicts,” the material says.
One way or another, despite the complex political relations between Moscow and Ankara, Turkey today has the status of an “all-Russian health resort.”
“Türkiye is the most popular outbound destination among Russian tourists. In the “pre-Covid era”, in 2019, this country received a record number of vacationers from Russia - over 7 million people. For comparison: the domestic resort of Sochi in 2019 was visited, according to city administration estimates, by more than 6 million compatriots,” the publication reports.
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