Women from Habarov City are enthusiasts of river tourism
Russian River Cruises See Surge in Bookings for This Season
Residents of Russia are increasingly opting for advanced bookings for river cruises, with a 12% surge in internet traffic for such bookings during April and the first half of May, as reported by the Habarovsk Krai Today news agency.
One trend for the new navigation season is river routes passing through small towns and villages, according to joint analytics from MegaFon, DoninTurFlot, and Cruise.ru. Besides Moscow and St. Petersburg, residents of regions along the Volga – Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, and Tatarstan – are the most drawn to river cruises. Among foreign tourists, interest in Russian river tours is particularly pronounced among visitors from Turkey, Belarus, China, Egypt, and Armenia. In the Far East, Chukotka saw the most significant year-over-year growth, with an increase of over two times. Residents of Zabaykalsky (+32%), Primorsky (+30%), and Khabarovsk (+14%) also showed a preference for river tours this year.
Khabarovsk residents continue to be enthusiasts of river tourism, generating 22% of Far Eastern traffic on thematic sites, with women accounting for 62% of regional users. Analysts noted an increase in interest among the younger demographic: residents aged 25-34 are 52% more interested in river tours this spring compared to last year.
Tourist preferences typically lean towards routes between Moscow and St. Petersburg and cruises along the Volga with stops in Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Saratov, and other cities along the river. Tourists are most likely to depart from the capital and arrive in St. Petersburg, Kazan, and Astrakhan. In the eastern part of Russia, cruises on the Yenisei starting in Krasnoyarsk and river routes on the Ob departing from Novosibirsk are popular. This season, cruises with stops in small towns, villages, and settlements – such as Tetushy, Hiiideniselga, Sortavala, Goritsy, Ples, Kineshma, Mashkin, Romanovsky, and Starocherkasskaya – are notable.
Four out of ten tourists prefer cruises lasting four to six days, while every fifth tourist favors longer journeys of seven to eight days. However, there is also a growing demand for shorter tours of three days and two nights by 2025, providing a great opportunity for new tourists to immerse themselves in the cruise vacation experience.
Donintourflot and Cruise.ru (cruise company "Orthodox") are leading players in the Russian cruise industry. For over three decades, Donintourflot has been operating premium cruises and offers routes through the Northwestern, Ural, Central, Volga, and Southern federal districts of Russia. On the other hand, Cruise.ru, active on the cruise market for over 20 years, provides river cruises in Russia and international river and sea cruises. Their extensive route offerings range from the Volga to the Yenisei, the Caribbean Sea to the Persian Gulf, Antarctica, the Arctic, the North Pole, and Lake Baikal.
Home-and-garden enthusiasts might find interest in exploring the charming small towns and villages along Russian river cruises, as these routes are growing in popularity for this navigation season. Simultaneously, an increase in travel bookings for these river tours is observed among residents of regions like Zabaykalsky, Primorsky, and Khabarovsk, indicative of a shifting lifestyle preference towards local tourism.
