Voyaging behavior: family tourists began to save on a May vacation

Families with children began to abandon trips to the May holidays in order to save money — this allows them to save the budget for summer holidays, tour aggregators and hoteliers told Izvestia. But the overall demand for short trips remained virtually unchanged in May, despite the fact that long weekends proved to be disrupted. The trend towards saving on family vacations has been traced over the past couple of years — for example, travelers with children have become more likely to choose accommodation in one room and shorten the duration of trips. Where Russians will go for these May holidays and how family vacations are changing is in the Izvestia article.

How families save on travel

Applications for travel with children this May account for 35% of all bookings, whereas a year earlier their share was 41%, the "Fly" service told Izvestia.ru". At the same time, the total demand for tours with arrivals from 1 to 9 May is at the level of 2025 figures.

The Ostrovok online hotel and apartment booking service also noted that, even despite the shortened configuration of the May holidays, tourists are actively planning holidays, but the focus has shifted towards short trips.

As Lyubov Voronina, managing director of the Let's Fly tour operator, explained, the cost of a family trip is usually about one and a half times higher than for a trip together.

"Considering that the weather in May is not always stable at many resorts, some travelers prefer not to spend significant amounts on a short vacation, but to postpone their vacation for the summer in order to increase the number of days of travel," she said.

According to the expert, currently in May, about two thirds of bookings are for trips by couples or single travelers. Ostrovok has families with children — this is only every fifth booking. And among the users of the platform Level.Travel This figure is 28%, but it has not changed over the year.

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How do travel dates change?

The trend towards saving the family budget was also reported to Izvestia by the Azimut Hotels hotel chain.

"Over the past two years, the average duration of tourist trips [for families with children] across the country has decreased to about five days (seven days in 2023), and the demand for room accommodations for two or more children with parents has increased by 17%," the company said.

They explained that the situation is affected by possible financial constraints, because the format of accommodation in one room with children is cheaper than renting two separate rooms.

The network's press service confirmed that this year there is a lower demand from families with children for the May holidays - by 7-10%. The company conducted a survey among the participants of its bonus system, and the respondents reported that this year they are ready to skip the spring break for a longer summer vacation.

At the same time, Valery Britaus, director of the marketplace for author's tours at YouTravel, interpreted the trend towards shorter rest periods in a different way.

— Families with children did not sacrifice the May holidays, they reinvented them. Instead of one tedious flight and large expenses, people get the opportunity to make two or three short, but very high-quality weekends per season," he said. — Summer remains a time for a solid vacation at sea, and May has become a testing ground for spontaneous discoveries and exploring new locations near home, such as an ancient manor, a mountain gorge or an atmospheric small town.

On these holidays, tourists with children prefer accommodation options in the middle price segment, Ostrovka reported. Apartments account for almost half of their bookings (40%), the popularity of such accommodations has increased by 4 percentage points, and most families choose hotels at an affordable price.

In the service Level.Travel It was reported that families began to purchase vouchers to sanatoriums more often this year.

Where will they go for the May holidays

The geography of destinations for the May holidays remains quite diverse: Russia, Turkey, Uzbekistan, China, Thailand — in general, almost all the traditional popular options, Lyubov Voronina said.

In Level.Travel It was noted that the main change for all categories of travelers was the increase in the share of Vietnam and China, but the leadership is held by traditional seaside resorts — Turkey and Egypt. The latter increased its share from 17% to 24%, as tourists who had previously chosen the UAE moved here. The third place this year is shared by Russia and Thailand.

The share of tours in Russia decreased compared to last year, when they accounted for 10% of sales, the service noted.

Top for your money: China, Turkey and Belarus topped the ranking of trips to the May holidays

Of the Russian destinations, travelers prefer two capitals, Krasnodar and Sochi.

In the top 5 leading destinations in terms of customer interest, "Fly.<url>" includes Turkey, Egypt, Russia, Vietnam and Thailand. At the same time, the average check for trips to Turkey increased by 3.2%, to 200.5 thousand rubles, and for Egypt decreased by 6%, to 229 thousand. The price of travel in Russia remained almost the same — +1%. But Thailand showed the most significant dynamics — a decrease of 23%, to 140.2 thousand.

The platform records a significant increase in demand for tours to Vietnam (3.6 times), China (2.2 times), Abkhazia (1.8 times) compared to the same period of the previous year.

Within Russia, the Krasnodar Territory, St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad Region, Caucasian Mineral Waters and the Moscow Region are among the top destinations.

Elena Shelekhova, head of the OneTwoTrip press service, noted that the May 2026 holidays demonstrate an interesting trend: while maintaining the overall balance between Russia and abroad, tourists are actively looking for new experiences in familiar regions.

— We see a phenomenal increase in interest in historical cities of Russia, such as Suzdal and Ryazan. Abroad, in addition to the traditional leaders of Turkey and Asian countries, European destinations such as Montenegro, Hungary and Serbia have gained a second wind," she said.

In Ostrovka, domestic bookings for travelers with children for the May holidays account for up to 80%. Tourists mostly choose destinations suitable for sightseeing holidays, major tourist centers and resorts: St. Petersburg, Kazan, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Yaroslavl, Kaliningrad, Sochi, Volgograd, Tula and Kislovodsk.

Family tourists account for every fifth booking in May (20%) for foreign trips. The largest demand on this platform traditionally falls on Belarus, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Abkhazia, Thailand, Japan, China, Kazakhstan.