Russian tourists have started to plan independent travel more often

By the end of 2024, the depth of independent bookings of travelers through travel aggregators increased by a third, and the duration of trips - by 20%. This is stated in the research results of the Association of Travel Aggregators (ATAG, unites "Yandex Travel", "Ostrovok", MTS Travel, "Tutu", "Avito Travel", "Aviasails" and "T-Bank Travel"), which were read by "Izvestia" on December 26. Compared to last year, independent vacation bookings increased almost one and a half times.

"In the outgoing year, travelers took care of their vacations much earlier. On average, the depth of booking of accommodation facilities in the high season reached 60 days against 48 days a year earlier (+25%). And a long summer vacation with children was booked 74 days before the trip - one third earlier than in 2023," - specified in ATAG with reference to the data of "Yandex Travel" and "Ostrovka".

The depth of airfare bookings has also increased, especially for summer and spring. According to Aviaceils data, on average Russians booked a flight 16 days before departure. At the same time, more than half of all air tickets were bought without luggage, T-Bank Travel added. Also, tourists often flew within Russia and abroad without connecting flights.

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There are few free seats left, but they are still available, aggregators note

According to experts, the average duration of the vacation has also increased.

"This year, the number of bookings for stays of more than three weeks increased by 12%, and for a period of two to three weeks - by almost 20%. This can be explained by the steady trend towards hybrid and remote formats," ATAG said, citing data from Ostrovka.

More often than others, it is not young people who book accommodation on aggregators, but people aged 35 to 44 years old. Thus, at MTS Travel this age category accounts for one third of the audience. There are slightly more women than men among users.

Compared to 2023, independent vacation bookings increased almost one and a half times - by 40%, the study showed. And in the high season - from May to September - the dynamics of bookings in some aggregators exceeded last year's by 70%.

Earlier, December 23, it was reported that more than 80% of Russians planning trips for the New Year holidays, prefer domestic tourism. This is stated in the results of the study "SberStrakhovanie". Among the most popular destinations are Moscow (this city was chosen by 19% of respondents), St. Petersburg (13%) and the Black Sea coast (12%).