Russia's outbound travel falls except for some premium classes/destinations

BTN News
Monday, 09 May 2022
The latest data from ForwardKeys reveals that Russian outbound tourism, already severely handicapped by pandemic travel restrictions, has fallen even further because of Russia’s military operations in Ukraine. 
In the week before the outbreak of war (w/c 18th Feb), outbound international air tickets from Russia stood at 42 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, but in the week immediately after the invasion (w/c 25th Feb), issued air tickets fell to just 19 per cent. 
 
Since then, flight bookings have been hovering at around 15 per cent (of pre-Covid levels). 
 
Owing to war-related sanctions on civil aviation, Russians cannot book flights to many of their favourite destinations in the West, so they are instead booking trips to the Middle East and Asia. An analysis of flight bookings made between 24 February, the start of the invasion, and 27 April, the latest data, reveals that the top five destinations for travel between May and August in order of resilience, are Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey and the UAE. Bookings to Sri Lanka are currently 85 per cent ahead of pre-pandemic levels, to the Maldives one per cent behind, to Kyrgyzstan 11 per cent behind, to Turkey 36 per cent behind and to the UAE, 49 per cent behind. 
 
However, Sri Lanka’s position at the head of the list is not a true reflection of the island’s attractiveness as a destination. Instead, it is a consequence of terrorist bombings, which scared away visitors in 2019, the pre-pandemic benchmark year.   
 
Further analysis of the recent tickets booked to Turkey and the UAE suggests that a very substantial proportion are affluent Russians going on holiday. 
 
This is because the number of seats sold in premium cabins has tripled, compared to 2019, and the average trip duration for premium travellers is 12 nights in Turkey and 7 nights in the UAE.

Russia's outbound travel falls except for some premium classes/destinations

BTN News
Monday, 09 May 2022
The latest data from ForwardKeys reveals that Russian outbound tourism, already severely handicapped by pandemic travel restrictions, has fallen even further because of Russia’s military operations in Ukraine. 
In the week before the outbreak of war (w/c 18th Feb), outbound international air tickets from Russia stood at 42 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, but in the week immediately after the invasion (w/c 25th Feb), issued air tickets fell to just 19 per cent. 
 
Since then, flight bookings have been hovering at around 15 per cent (of pre-Covid levels). 
 
Owing to war-related sanctions on civil aviation, Russians cannot book flights to many of their favourite destinations in the West, so they are instead booking trips to the Middle East and Asia. An analysis of flight bookings made between 24 February, the start of the invasion, and 27 April, the latest data, reveals that the top five destinations for travel between May and August in order of resilience, are Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey and the UAE. Bookings to Sri Lanka are currently 85 per cent ahead of pre-pandemic levels, to the Maldives one per cent behind, to Kyrgyzstan 11 per cent behind, to Turkey 36 per cent behind and to the UAE, 49 per cent behind. 
 
However, Sri Lanka’s position at the head of the list is not a true reflection of the island’s attractiveness as a destination. Instead, it is a consequence of terrorist bombings, which scared away visitors in 2019, the pre-pandemic benchmark year.   
 
Further analysis of the recent tickets booked to Turkey and the UAE suggests that a very substantial proportion are affluent Russians going on holiday. 
 
This is because the number of seats sold in premium cabins has tripled, compared to 2019, and the average trip duration for premium travellers is 12 nights in Turkey and 7 nights in the UAE.