What are the vacation queries that pique the interest of Russian tourists when traveling abroad
Yandex services are not only utilized domestically, but also abroad. People use them to search for opinions on tourist attractions, local cuisine and history, as well as translations for unfamiliar words and remedies for sunburns. By analyzing data from search and other services, Yandex experts have determined the most popular countries among Russian tourists in 2018, and how their interests shift when they become vacationers.
Top Destinations
In 2018, there was a significant increase in interest for flights to Hungary and Georgia, with these countries experiencing the highest growth in queries on Yandex.Travel, with an increase of 5-6%. Only the United Arab Emirates saw an increase in popularity among all resort destinations. In contrast, a large number of countries experienced a decrease in their share of total queries, including popular destinations. Turkey, for example, which was the second most popular country for trips after Uzbekistan, received almost 24% fewer queries compared to other countries in 2018.
Popular Vacation Spots for Russians
During the summer of 2018, Turkey emerged as the top destination for Russian tourists. It attracted four times more Yandex users compared to Greece, the next popular country, and six times more than Cyprus and Spain, which secured the third and fourth positions, respectively. Among African countries, Tunisia was the most popular, while Thailand stood out as the preferred East Asian destination. The Dominican Republic, representing Latin America, also made it into the top 15 destinations.
The Perspective of Russian Tourists on the World
The size of countries is adjusted based on the proportion of tourists who visited them.
Ranking of Countries
The rating of countries varies significantly from city to city. For instance, in Saint Petersburg, the proportion of visitors to Finland is five times higher compared to other major cities. Moscow, on the other hand, has the highest share of travelers to Western European countries. In the eastern part of the Urals, countries such as Vietnam, Thailand, and China rank higher compared to the national average. However, Turkey remains the dominant choice across most of Siberia, with East Asian resorts outperforming it only somewhere between Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk.
Dates of Flights
The most popular date of going by air is September 5. People looked for air tickets on this date 930,000 times. The smallest number of queries—154,000—were for air flights on January 28. In general, users are most interested in traveling during warm months: from May till September, the number of queries about air flights grows notably.
What Inspires People During their Vacation
To analyze the daytime activities and search interests of tourists, Yandex experts examined data from users who spent their summer vacations in countries outside the top 15 popular destinations in Russia.
For the purpose of this analysis, tourists were identified as users who predominantly stayed in Russia but spent a minimum of three days in another country during the summer, based on data from Yandex mobile apps. The search interests of travelers in neighboring countries were found to be quite similar to domestic interests. This could be attributed to many people visiting these countries to see relatives or for work purposes rather than as typical tourists. Hence, these countries were not included in the rankings.
To gain insights into people’s interests while on vacation, an analysis of word frequency was conducted on both domestic and international queries. The most frequently used vacation-related queries were found to be “rum” and “supermarket,” indicating a desire for holiday spirits and shopping convenience. On the other hand, queries related to a homely atmosphere were dominated by words such as “cinema” and “health center.” In terms of food and beverages, “rum” and “fruit” emerged as the most vacation-oriented choices, while “cucumber” and “pizza” represented more non-holiday preferences. Interestingly, some words were used with equal frequency both at home and on vacation, such as “Putin” and “sky.” The accompanying graph illustrates the popular words and their level of association with vacation or home queries.
Words Evoking a Sense of Home and Vacation
Here are examples of popular words arranged based on their typicality in vacation and home queries. The higher a word is positioned, the more frequently it is encountered in queries.
Tourism interests vary in different countries, reflected in the content of queries. For instance, the Dominican Republic’s top five typical words in queries include ‘rum’, ‘cocktail’, ‘cigar’, ‘seaweed’, and ‘larimar’. In contrast, the French top five is focused on tourist attractions such as ‘museum’, ‘Louvre’, ‘Versailles’, ‘Disneyland’, and ‘Eiffel Tower’, with no emphasis on food or shopping.
European countries, apart from Finland, have longer lists of popular tourist attractions. Finland, on the other hand, demonstrates queries primarily related to fishing and picnics. Thailand and Vietnam have the most extensive gastronomic lists and are also renowned for shopping. Italy and Spain also prioritize shopping, but their tourists are particularly interested in specific brands, distinguishing them from other countries.
Tourist Preferences in Different Countries
The size of the circles represents the popularity of countries among Russian tourists. The image displays the most frequently occurring words and phrases in queries from these countries, occurring at least three times more frequently compared to foreign resorts on average. Geographic names and local company names were excluded from the analysis.
During vacations, people also engage in watching movies and series in the evenings. Queries reveal a preference for authentic experiences. Associations with Greece often include the movie “300,” while “The Godfather” is popular in Italy, “The Troops of St. Tropez” in France, and “The Mole” cartoon in the Czech Republic. Additionally, tourists frequently search for movies filmed in specific countries, such as “The Beach” in Thailand, “Gladiator” and “Star Wars” in Tunisia, and “Pirates of the Caribbean” in the Dominican Republic.
The challenges faced by people while on vacation are reflected in their queries as well. In Turkey and Bulgaria, viral infections are common concerns, leading to frequent queries on the topic. Thailand sees queries related to food poisoning and plankton stings. Vietnam showcases fears of encountering counterfeits and difficulties with room lockers. Greece and Montenegro raise concerns about sea urchins, while jellyfish are a worry in Tunisia.
Many tourist queries revolve around the need to communicate with locals, such as phrases like “how to say in English, ‘give me a good room in the hotel'” or “how to say in Italian, ‘bill'”. Politeness formulas, along with words like “translate” and “in English”, are often sought after, with phrases like “thank you” and “please” being popular. Additionally, items that cause frequent difficulties in naming can be compiled to create a list of essential things for a tourist. This list would include wine, an iron, a fork, a toothpick, and, of course, a towel.
We encourage you to download “The Russian Tourism Market Report: Trends, Analysis & Statistics – How to Captivate Russian Tourists and Entice Them to Visit Your Country” and delve deeper into understanding Russian tourists.
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