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Inner circle: Russians travel to neighboring cities and regions more often on February 23
During the February holidays, Russian tourists began to choose trips to their own regions or to neighboring ones more often. For many, this is a way to reboot without going far away. Therefore, the popularity of the Vladimir, Yaroslavl and Kemerovo regions, as well as Bashkiria, is growing rapidly. Interest has especially increased in the regions with a rich program of Carnival festivities, which will continue on the eve of February 23. Where else do tourists spend this weekend and how men plan their holidays? — in the Izvestia article.
Demand for holidays increased on February 23
A significant part of the demand for trips this long weekend was formed at the expense of Russians who want to spend time outside the house, but without going far, the press service of the platform told Izvestia. Bronevik.com . They travel to their own regions or travel to neighboring ones.
"For example, they choose hotels for short vacations and a change of scenery for the holidays. As for February dates, as in general recently, there has been a gradual shift in demand towards more budget—friendly accommodation formats," the company said.
The leaders in the number of tourist accommodation bookings for the February holiday weekend have traditionally been the largest tourist centers in the country — Moscow and St. Petersburg. They account for 16% and 12% of all orders in Russia, respectively. Murmansk is in third position with a share of 4%. Popular destinations also include Sochi, Estosadok, Kazan, Yekaterinburg and Krasnodar, each accounting for about 2% of bookings.
The number of orders for February 21-23 increased by 50.7% compared to last year, said Elena Shelekhova, head of the press service of the OneTwoTrip travel planning service.
This year, the long weekend in February coincided with Carnival, which affected the structure of demand: Russians booked 38% more daily housing than last year, confirmed Raul Salakhov, head of services development for landlords at Avito Travel.
"Interest has especially increased in regions with a rich program of Carnival celebrations, primarily in the cities of the Golden Ring and the Kaluga Region, where one of the largest Carnival celebrations traditionally takes place in Nikola Lenivets," he said.
The most popular destinations for this February 23 and a couple of days before it are the resorts of the Krasnodar Territory, they account for a third of the total bookings for the holiday weekend, the press service of the national tour operator Alean told Izvestia. Moscow and the Moscow region, St. Petersburg, Kazan, the cities of the Golden Ring, and the Tyumen Region are also popular.
"The increase in the price of tours and the tendency to reduce travel expenses are slowing down demand," the company noted. — The positive factor is that this year there are more days off than last year, three days out of two, and those who wanted to go on a trip had more opportunities to plan their trip."
Ski resorts are traditionally in high demand. Arkhyz is being actively booked: there, the occupancy rate for the holiday is 90%.
In addition, the demand for Anapa's accommodation facilities increased by 20%. Interest in Gelendzhik remains at the level of last year. And Sochi shows a decrease of 15%.
Hotels, apartments and suburban real estate
The demand for daily apartment rentals in the Vladimir region is growing the fastest during these February holidays — by 4.4 times, Avito Travel said. In Bashkiria, this indicator increased 2.4 times, in the Yaroslavl region — 2.2 times, in Kemerovo — by 59%, in Kaliningrad — by 44%.
Suburban real estate set a record for the growth of interest this year: it was booked on February 21-23 97% more often than last year. Kaluga Region (3.9 times), Vladimir Region (3.3 times), Tver Region (3.2 times) and Karachay-Cherkessia region (2.7 times), as well as Kemerovo Region (2.3 times) grew the most in popularity.
In general, in Russia, according to this service, objects are booked for February dates 25% more often than last year. And among the most popular destinations, as in previous years, are Moscow and the Moscow region, St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, Krasnodar Territory, Murmansk Region and Tatarstan.
During the upcoming holidays, Russians plan to stay in daily apartments for an average of two nights in threes. The longest bookings (five days each) were recorded in the Krasnodar Territory, Murmansk, Kemerovo and Kaliningrad regions.
If you look at hotels, OneTwoTrip said, Moscow has become the main destination for travelers (it accounts for 17.3% of hotel bookings). St. Petersburg is in second place in popularity (16.5%), and Adler is in third (3.5%). Yekaterinburg, where 2.8% of tourists will spend the weekend, and Nizhny Novgorod (2.7%) also entered the top 5 cities.
Hotels remain the most sought-after type of tourist accommodation, however, their share in the total volume of bookings decreased from 63% to 60% year-on-year. Bronevik.com .
"At the same time, interest in apartments is growing: their share has increased from 6% to 9%," the company said. — The share of objects without a category has also increased — from 32% to 38%, while the segment of 3-5-star accommodation facilities has decreased from 59% to 55%."
This shows that Russians tend to optimize their budget and more often choose more economical options without giving up travel themselves, analysts say.
Where will I go abroad
During the year, the priorities of tourists wishing to spend the February long weekend abroad have changed markedly, the tour and hotel booking service told Izvestia. Level.Travel .
"First of all, the list of the most sought-after destinations has been updated. Only the leader, Egypt, remained unchanged. Its share has increased compared to the beginning of 2025 from 26% of all booked tours to 34%," the company said.
The UAE came in second place, rising from the third position. The share of the Emirates increased from 15% to 22%. Thailand dropped to the third place from the second, its share decreased from 23% to 15%.
The main changes are related to Vietnam, which is the fourth largest Russian demand for foreign destinations this February. Interest in this republic turned out to be three times higher (9% instead of 3%).
As noted by analysts Level.Travel Russian tourists, going abroad, began to choose shorter vacations more often — this is how they reduced the average check for a trip. The share of tours for 11 nights or more decreased from 29% to 24%, but trips for four to six nights increased from 14% to 16%. Most often, the platform's clients chose tours lasting from seven to ten days. A short rest, up to three nights, accounted for 3% of all bookings.
In 2026, Russians are more likely to plan their holidays in advance, apparently to fix the cost of the trip.: 24% of the tours were booked in more than two months (17% were booked last year).
Another trend this year is the growing share of tourists with children (37% instead of 30% in 2025): with the modular system, holidays begin on February 21 and last until March 1.
And according to the Tutu travel service, Minsk is the leader among foreign destinations this weekend — 21%. This is followed by Istanbul and Yerevan (7% each), as well as Dubai and Tbilisi (4% each).
How a man plans his travels
On the eve of the men's holiday, analysts at the Azimut Hotels hotel chain studied the behavior of male guests to understand what factors determine their travel choice. The results showed that the male audience as a whole does not like to plan trips on their own, they rely on the advice of others in choosing a hotel and do not welcome short trips. Among the six types of travelers, two stand out.
The first is "situational tourists". For this category, the process of travel planning and choosing a hotel is not enjoyable or indifferent. Therefore, they strive to reduce the preparation time and rely on the simplest solutions — they rely on the choice of relatives, recommendations from friends and acquaintances, book at the last moment, and do not study the information about the hotel on the Internet. In addition, they are the ones who choose trips in their own or neighboring region more often and travel far across Russia less often.
The second popular type is "short-trip enthusiasts." This type of man plans a trip in advance, they don't tend to be spontaneous and book hotels for the weekend (one or two days), they choose reliability. It is typical for this group of men to stay where they have already been and they liked it. They prefer chain hotels, as well as those where they have a loyalty card.
In general, the process of travel planning is not enjoyable for 70% of the men surveyed, analysts say. 63% noted that the central location of the hotel directly determines the quality of the trip. Another significant factor is the ability to park a car nearby: the availability of private parking at the hotel is essential for 45%.
Usually, representatives of the stronger sex plan and participate in the organization process in advance, only if it is a purely male trip. In all other cases, the initiator and main motivator of recreation is a woman — she often chooses a place and a hotel.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
