Many Russians Extend Their Holidays

Alina Khorosheva, 14.01.2014 11:09

Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev signed an order according to which the New Year holidays in 2014 now lasted from January 1 through January 8 of 2014. January 4 and 5, which are Saturday and Sunday, will be moved to May 2 and June 13 of 2014.

“Indeed, many clients of TUI Russia took advantage of the opportunity to prolong their New Year holidays by buying return tickets for January 11-12. About 40% of all the clients who traveled with TUI during the New Year period opted for this variant,” the press service of the tour operator told TRN magazine.

Dmitry Mazurov, the general director of tour operator “Sunrise Tour”, told the magazine that “quite a lot of tourists who traveled with our company extended their holidays thanks to January 9 and 10. About 30% of New Year tours were bought with regard for these two days.”

Deputy Marketing and PR Director of “Anex Tour” Denis Peshkov said that about 80% of tourists who went abroad via the company at the beginning of January bought tours lasting 10-12 days.

“Which means that not only have many of them not returned from their trips yet and are planning on extending the holidays through January 9 and 10, but they are also going to include the upcoming weekend in their holidays as well. Especially popular this New Year season are the countries of Southeast Asia and island Tenerife, as well as the ski resorts of Andorra,” added the expert.

According to the booking system OnlineTur.ru, during the New Year holidays the most sought-after destinations among Russians have been Egypt, Thailand, Turkey, India and the UAE. During the first week of January these countries, in addition to securing their positions in the TOP-5 of the most popular destinations, also lowered prices, which traditionally only happens after the winter holidays, the company specified.