River cruises

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2023

Growth of tourist flow by 20% to 750 thousand passengers

The river cruise season of 2023 in Russia showed an increase in tourist flow by 20% compared to 2022. Such data in May 2024 leads the Association of Tour Operators of Russia.

According to her, about 750 thousand Russian tourists took part in the navigation in 2023. While in 2022, 600 thousand people made river cruises.

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Industry officials also rate the past 2023 season as successful. On average, the loading of cruise ships amounted to 75-85%, and in the peak summer months reached 90%.

The increase in demand for domestic tourism, including river cruises, is due to limited air traffic with foreign countries. For example, the Dolphin tour operator in 2022 increased cruise sales by 25%, and in 2023 - by another 20%.

For our company, we estimate annual revenue growth at about 17%, - confirmed the head of the commission of the Russian Union of Travel Industry for Cruise Tourism Alexei Rastegaev.

Moscow "Vodokhod" in 2023 served 138 thousand cruise tourists, which is 14% more than a year ago.

According to the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, the greatest demand among travelers was for three to four-day weekend river cruises, including from Moscow to the cities of the Golden Ring. In second place in popularity are weekly routes between the two capitals. The third place was taken by 4-7-day cruises on the Volga ring.

The cost of a weekly river cruise in 2023 began from 7 thousand rubles per person per day in an inexpensive segment and reached 20 thousand rubles in premium. At the same time, experts predict the inevitable rise in price of cruises in the 2024 season by 15-20% due to rising prices for fuel, food and excursions on routes, the Association noted.

Commissioning of a record number of ships

About 100 cruise ships entered navigation for the 2023 season in Russia, which is a record figure. This was announced in early June 2023 by the Russian Union of Travel Industry (PCT).

By the summer of 2023, river cruise operators offer dozens of routes on them at various prices - from 5.7 thousand rubles per person for a two-day weekend cruise to almost 900 thousand rubles for an expeditionary route along the Yenisei.

About 100 cruise ships entered the navigation

Alexey Rastegaev, chairman of the cruise commission of the Russian Union of Travel Industry PCT, director of the Volgograd company Cruise, believes that the demand for cruises in 2023 will grow by 10-12% due to the addition of an audience in 2023 thanks to the tourist cashback program.

According to the PCT expert, the general director of the cruise aggregator Infoflot, Andrei Mikhailovsky, weekend cruises are most in demand among tourists. In second place in terms of mass and popularity - cruises MoscowSt. Petersburg-. The third place is occupied by 4-5-day cruises in the cities of the Golden Ring, along the Upper Volga, saturated with excursions. Also in the top five are longer routes along the Lower Volga.

Ilya Sukhovolsky, deputy general director of Vodokhod, said that the company brought 24 motor ships and one high-speed hovercraft Biryusa on Lake Baikal to the rivers in 2023. This is five more ships than in the summer of 2022. According to him, the company plans to transport about 140 thousand tourists in 2023, which will allow it to approach pre-pandemic (we are talking about the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic) indicators.

According to the PCT expert, deputy director of the operator Svetlana Goncharova, tourists are increasingly taking not a full cruise, but more affordable "halves" - from Moscow to St. Petersburg or back. Tatarstan is in second place, Solovetsky Islands is in third place, where few flights are placed due to the short season.^[1]

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