Dreams come true: demand for holidays abroad during the New Year holidays increased by 40%

The demand for trips abroad during the New Year holidays in 2025 increased by 40%, Izvestia learned. Interest in foreign destinations is spurred by the expansion of airline flight programs and the strengthening of the ruble against other currencies. This has led to cheaper tours. China is the absolute leader in the growth of the number of bookings, while Thailand, Vietnam, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt are in demand as standard. About how much a New Year's holiday will cost is in the Izvestia article.

Where do Russians go for the New Year

The demand for holidays abroad in the upcoming long New Year holidays from December 31, 2025 to January 11, 2026 increased by 40% compared to the same period last year. Alexander Bragin, director of the Association of Travel Aggregators (ATAG, which unites the largest players in this market), told Izvestia about this.

A third of flight bookings for these dates were made to foreign destinations — 4 percentage points more than a year earlier, a representative of Aviasales told Izvestia. In OneTwoTrip, the number of hotel bookings in foreign countries for the upcoming New Year holidays increased by a quarter compared to the same period last year, said Elena Shelekhova, a representative of the service. The share of foreigners has reached 41%, she said.

In Ostrovka, the number of bookings in hotels and apartments abroad increased by 44% over the same period compared to last year, his representative told Izvestia. During the New Year holidays, every fifth booking (20%) falls on foreign destinations — a year earlier, this figure was 18%, said a representative of the service.

At Tutu, the demand for foreign travel during the New Year holidays doubled compared to last year, Yuri Vyushin, director of hotel market development at the company, told Izvestia. And at Fun&Sun, the number of tour bookings for these holidays increased by 55%, his representative noted.

China has become the absolute leader in the dynamics of the growth in the number of bookings among foreign destinations for Russian independent tourists this year, according to ATAG data. The number of aircraft bookings in this area increased 1.8 times, and their share amounted to 5.2%, said the representative of Aviasales. This is due to the abolition of the visa regime between the countries, said Alexander Bragin. According to him, China has entered the New Year's foreign top five for the first time, and the number of hotel reservations has doubled compared to last year.

An operational find: Russians have started booking tours right before their trips

This is most often the way to travel to Moscow, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg.

Thailand is in the highest demand in OneTwoTrip this year, where the share of hotel orders was 12.2%, said Elena Shelekhova. Despite the decrease in the share of aircraft factories by 8 percentage points, to 8.1%, this country remains one of the leaders in demand among Russians for the New Year holidays, the representative of Aviasales agreed. The number of bookings for tours to Thailand increased by 18% year—on-year, and to Vietnam by 9%, the Fun&Sun representative added.

According to Azur Air, the islands of Phuket and Pattaya are among the most sought-after destinations among domestic tourists. Seat occupancy on charter flights of the airline will exceed 98%, and the expected passenger traffic will be more than 66 thousand people, said a representative of the carrier. The average cost of a package tour for two to Thailand during these New Year holidays for 11 days was 394 thousand rubles, the Fun&Sun representative added.

Turkey is among the leaders with a 9.9% share of bookings, Italy (6.3%), France (5.5%) and the UAE (5.3%), according to OneTwoTrip data. The largest increase in bookings at Fun & Sun occurred in the UAE and Egypt — by 30 and 26%, respectively, said its representative.

Dubai is the leader among foreign destinations, with an increase in demand observed since the beginning of the season, a representative of Ural Airlines told Izvestia. Bangkok, Beijing, Dubai, Istanbul and Antalya are the most popular destinations in S7, said a representative of this airline. The carrier has increased its holiday flight program by 55 flights (+3.2%), and the route network will expand to seven destinations, including from Moscow to Antalya, Istanbul and Dubai.

Aeroflot and Yandex Travel did not respond to Izvestia's requests.

Why is the demand for holidays abroad growing?

The Anex representative explains the increase in demand for foreign destinations by expanding the flight program and opening new destinations. The main difference between these New Year holidays was the availability of a flight program from Russia to the resorts of Vietnam — Nha Trang and Phu Quoc Island, said the representative of Azur Air. The demand for trips to this country has increased almost 2.5 times, the representative of Ostrovok confirmed. Flights to these locations are operated from 16 Russian cities, the Anex representative added. The number of flight bookings to Vietnam increased by 15% year-on-year, and the country's share in the booking structure reached 2.4%, according to Aviasales data.

European destinations are also showing growth — these are mainly those countries that continue to issue visas to Russians, said the representative of Ostrovok. The demand for trips to Germany for the New Year holidays doubled, to France — by 71%, to Italy — by 65%, to Hungary — by 60%.

The depth of booking tours this year was 152 days, which is 13% more than a year earlier, an Anex representative said. This is due to the possibility of choosing the most suitable travel conditions for the client at affordable prices. Tourists are increasingly paying attention to promotions and special offers from hotels and tour operators, which allows them to purchase the most profitable tour, said a representative of the tour operator. Russian tourists have become more economical this year, Elena Shelekhova agreed.

The right time: the demand for New Year's tours has already doubled

During the year, the average cost of tours at the beginning of January increased by 10-25%, depending on the destination

The growth in demand for foreign destinations this year is due to the noticeable strengthening of the ruble exchange rate, which offset the annual price increase, said Alexander Bragin. According to him, this has led to the fact that most popular holiday destinations have fallen in price by 5-7% compared to last year.

Thus, the average check for booking a room for one night on New Year's Eve in Thailand amounted to 10.3 thousand rubles, which is 8% less than in the same period a year earlier, according to ATAG data. In Turkey, the price of a room per night was 10.7 thousand rubles (-5%), in the UAE — 22.5 thousand rubles (-7%), in Uzbekistan and Georgia — 5.8 thousand and 7.5 thousand rubles, respectively (-9%), follows from the data of the industry association.

The increase in demand is also due to record-breaking long holidays, which will amount to 12 days, noted Alexander Bragin. This makes it possible to go on vacation not only for the New Year itself or immediately after it, but also towards the end of the holidays, he said. Therefore, short-term and less expensive bookings at the end of the holidays have also become popular, for example, for 2-3 nights, said Yuri Vyushin.