The country of Suomi took seventh place in the ranking of the most popular destinations for searching for tours in September

According to Yandex, Russians’ interest in tourist trips to Europe decreased by 14% in September compared to August (judging by the total number of requests). Experts from the Association of Russian Tour Operators say, in turn, that the demand for tours to European countries in September decreased by an average of 30%. Considering that demand for countries outside the Schengen area increased by 8%, analysts concluded that part of the decline in interest in stupid travelers to Europe is explained by the introduction of biometrics when obtaining Schengen.

The TOP 10 most popular destinations for searching for tours in September were left by Spain, Montenegro and Bulgaria. Finland, China and Israel, on the contrary, are among the top ten leaders in the ranking. The total number of requests for tours in September compared to August increased by 14%.

Moreover, Finland rose to seventh place in the ranking, having added 15% by August, although by last year the country was missing 27.9%. In September, the traditional increased interest of Russians in short tours to Suomi (one to three days) was recorded. Yandex visitors also showed great interest in New Year’s tours: in September, “New Year in Finland” was requested 8,619 times, although this is 67% less often than in September last year.

In September, New Year's tours for three days for two (without meals and flights) to Finland could be purchased from 10 thousand rubles.

Most often, Finland was of interest to those living in the Leningrad region; in this region, the affinity index (denotes the ratio of the rating for the target audience to the rating for the base audience) was 826% / 9,572 impressions. Also, increased interest in the destination was recorded among residents of the Arkhangelsk (230% / 205 p.), Vologda (186% / 206 p.) and Murmansk (157% / 118 p.) regions.

Alternative options that the Russians considered were Sweden and Norway.

The leader of the rating traditionally changed in September. Turkey, having lost 34.6% of demand compared to August, lost first place in the list to Egypt; this direction added 14.6% to last month. Thailand moved up to third place, gaining another 50.9% by August. Greece dropped to fourth position, missing 44% of requests for tours. Vietnam immediately rose from ninth to fifth place; its popularity increased by 35.4% compared to August. The volume of requests to Cyprus decreased by 33%, the island took sixth position in the ranking. Italy was eighth in the list of leaders, having lost 23.3% by August. The number of requests for tours to China increased by only 3.2%, however, this was enough to enter the list of leaders and take ninth place. Israel closes the TOP 10; the number of requests for this country increased by 1.4% by August.

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In September, Yandex users were interested in last-minute tours 10% less often than in the previous month. And compared to September 2014, this year Russians were 11% more likely to look for last-minute tours. 40% of all requests for last-minute tours concerned Turkey. There was a large volume of special offers on the route with departures in September. The second most popular last minute deal was Egypt, accounting for 34.6% of requests. From the point of view of organizing an inexpensive holiday in September, 3.8% of Yandex users were interested in Thailand, 3.5% were looking for Cyprus, and just over 2% of Russians were interested in inexpensive trips to Greece and Vietnam.

Yandex users also looked for last-minute tours to the Dominican Republic, Spain, Italy, UAE, Israel, Tunisia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, India, Goa, Maldives and Cuba.

Let us remind you that on September 14, the Schengen Visa Information System began operating in Russia. In practice, this means that on the first application, the applicant must come in person to the consulate (visa center) to apply for a short-term Schengen visa and collect biometric data (scanned 10 fingerprints and digital photograph). According to the diplomatic missions of Finland, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Italy, Lithuania and Germany in St. Petersburg, the launch of the system was successful. However, the consulates admit that it has become more difficult for the tourism industry to work in the new conditions.

The Russians placed Finland between Italy and Cyprus