"Last-minute tours" at discounted rates essentially died after the pandemic, Executive Director of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) Maya Lomidze said.
"In recent years, following the pandemic, demand has frequently outpaced supply, and there are no last-minute deals. Tour operators are highly cautious when calculating the amount of pre-purchased seats and rooms in foreign hotels," Lomidze said.
Consequently, there have not been any last-minute tours in recent years, though marketing experts still frequently employ the term to attract consumers, she noted.
The expert recalled that "last-minute tours" refer to travel packages sold shortly before the departure date at prices 15-50% lower than standard rates.
"This market phenomenon occurs in organized tourism when the supply of tours exceeds actual consumer demand," Lomidze said.
ATOR Vice President for International Tourism and CEO of the Space Travel tour operator Artur Muradyan confirmed that tours are booked solid for Turkey and other destinations through September.
"Today, we can look at almost any destination for the upcoming season - from Egypt to Vietnam - and the situation is exactly the same. Even tours to the UAE, a destination still experiencing the repercussions of this spring's Middle East crisis, display the same pattern: trips for the autumn holidays cost significantly less a month ago than they do now," Artur Muradyan said.
According to him, the entire market is currently pressured by the appreciation of the U.S. dollar and euro against the ruble, alongside restricted airlift capacity to certain destinations, TASS reported.
