Many Russian tourists do not prefer to go on holiday before covid-19 vaccine is found

The news about the re-launch of flights between Russia and Turkey has caused excitement in Turkey’s tourism sector. However it is understood that  only 23 percent of Russians plan to go on holiday as soon as the borders open, while 30 percent will not go on holiday unless a vaccine against coronavirus is found.

Turkey’s Transport Minister heralded the news about the flight talks between Russia. But Turkey is unluckily is not in priority this year, as far as holiday plans of Russians are concerned due to risk of epidemic.

Anex Tour, one of the tour operators that brings millions of tourists from Russia to Turkey, has investigated the effects of the pandemic on Russian tourism and found that Russians fear going on holiday without a vaccine. The survey, conducted in cooperation with Yandex and Vzglyad, involved 20 thousand people between the ages of 25-55 with income level above middle and with interest in tourism and traveling. The survey suggests that even if flights begin, expectations should not be kept too high.

About 30 percent of Russians have given up their travel plans until the COVID-19 vaccine is available, while about 23 percent expect the borders to be opened for the holiday. Turkey is among the most popular destinations after Russia.

Of those surveyed, 22.2 per cent said they would go on holiday “one month after borders are opened”, 13.6 percent said they would go on holiday “two months after borders are opened” and 7.8 per cent said they would go on holiday “three months after borders are opened”. Only 22.9 per cent of respondents said they would go on holiday “as soon as the borders opened”, In holiday preferences, Russia ranked first with 15.2 percent. After Russia, Turkey was ranked with 13.72 percent, Abkhazia with 6.74 percent and Greece with 4.48 percent.

Respondents responded to Crimea with 7.57 percent as a region. Crimea was followed by Antalya with 7.38 percent, Sochi with 6.32 percent, Kemer with 3.35 percent and Phuket with 3.26 percent. One of the noteworthy details was his choice of scheduled aircraft. 44.16 per cent of respondents said they planned to travel to the holiday destination by scheduled flight, while 29.60 per cent of those who said ‘by charter flights’. The rest declared that they would go on holiday by train or in their own car.