UK missing out on Russia’s booming travel market
Hot on the heels of today’s announcement that Ryanair has been granted permission to launch flights between Russia and Ireland, a new survey has been published that reveals the UK is missing out on Russia’s booming outbound travel market.
Hotels.com’s Russian International Travel Monitor shows that almost half of hoteliers surveyed worldwide have seen a rise in Russian guests in the past year, with 53% of those hoteliers seeing a 10% rise in bookings.
However, the UK has seen its share of the high-spending, fast-growing Russian market shrink over the past six years.
Russians are among the highest spenders on hotel rooms globally and during the first half of this year Russian visitors paid an average of £125 a night for UK hotel rooms, £22 above the average paid by all hotel guests, said the survey.
This is backed up by VisitBritain figures, which show that Russian visitors typically spend around £1,057 in the UK – nearly twice the £600 average for all visitors .While promising, the UK is merely scratching the surface of Russia’s rapidly-growing tourism market, said Hotels.com.
"The UK is facing stiff competition from Spain, Italy and France in attracting Russian visitors," said Hotels.com president Johan Svanstrom.
"While these countries have expanded their share of the outbound Russian market since 2006, Great Britain has seen its share shrink. The UK now accounts for less than one per cent of all outbound visits by Russian travellers."
Hotels.com booking figures showing that Paris was the top destination for Russians during the first half of 2013, followed by Rome and Madrid. London was the UK’s only entrant in the top 20, moving up three places to number nine.
"New flight routes from Moscow to London and Manchester are making the UK more accessible and, as an industry, we must take advantage of this if we are to capitalise on the growing Russian market.," said Svanstrom.
"Translating tourist information is a good first step but hoteliers should also consider reviewing the services they offer and make changes to attract more lucrative Russian guests."
With 92% of the hoteliers surveyed by Hotels.com expecting the volume of Russian visitors to increase over the next three years, many are making changes to deliver a warmer welcome.
Almost a third of hoteliers have already started to offer Russian TV channels while more than a fifth (23%) have hired Russian speaking staff, with a further 12% planning to do so.
Also, 15% of hoteliers plan to offer translated welcome materials, in addition to the 20% that already do so, and a further 15% plan to start providing translated travel and tourism guides. One in ten hoteliers plans to start serving Russian food.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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