Russian tour operators booked solid through September, no 'last-minute' option — ATOR

TourismRussian tour operators booked solid through September, no 'last-minute' option — ATOR According to the regulator, the entire market is currently pressured by the appreciation of the US dollar and euro against the ruble, alongside restricted airlift capacity to certain destinationsMOSCOW, August 17. /TASS/. "Last-minute tours" at discounted rates essentially died after the pandemic, Maya Lomidze, Executive Director of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR), told TASS. "In recent years, following the pandemic, demand has frequently outpaced supply, and there are no last-minute deals. Tour operators are highly cautious when calculating the amount of pre-purchased seats and rooms in foreign hotels. Consequently, there have not been any last-minute tours in recent years, though marketing experts still frequently employ the term to attract consumers," Lomidze explained. The expert recalled that "last-minute tours" refer to travel packages sold shortly before the departure date at prices 15-50% lower than standard rates. This market phenomenon occurs in organized tourism when the supply of tours exceeds actual consumer demand. Artur Muradyan, ATOR Vice President for International Tourism and CEO of the Space Travel tour operator, confirmed to TASS that tours are booked solid for Turkey and other destinations through September. "Today, we can look at almost any destination for the upcoming season -- from Egypt to Vietnam -- and the situation is exactly the same. Even tours to the UAE, a destination still experiencing the repercussions of this spring's Middle East crisis, display the same pattern: trips for the autumn holidays cost significantly less a month ago than they do now," he noted. According to Muradyan, the entire market is currently pressured by the appreciation of the US dollar and euro against the ruble, alongside restricted airlift capacity to certain destinations. However, the primary reason is that tour operators are risk-averse and refrain from planning excessively large amounts of trips for the season. As a result, price dumping via "last-minute travel offers" is a disappearing practice. Last-minute tours across Russia The issue of last-minute tours is also of little relevance to domestic destinations, as the vast majority of tour operators' domestic travel offers include only hotel accommodation or ground services in a sightseeing tour, the ATOR press service noted. There are no tour operator charters within Russia, and block booking is used selectively and relatively rarely. Therefore, there are almost no last-minute seats on flights. However, hoteliers currently offer numerous discounted promotions if occupancy rates are unsatisfactory, ATOR added. Earlier today, the association reported that last-minute tours to Turkey had disappeared as a phenomenon -- the earlier tourists book their vacations in the country, the cheaper they are. 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