From January to June 2026, 2,700 travel agencies in Russia ceased operations—a 52.3% increase from the previous year, Kommersant reports , citing Kontur.Fokus data. The reasons for this were a decline in demand due to Russians’ shift to economizing, as well as the fuel crisis and regular airport closures caused by Ukrainian drone attacks. As a result, the growth in the number of travel agencies was the lowest in three years—just 0.84%.
Alexander Bragin, Director of the Association of Travel Aggregators, cited Russians’ desire to cut travel expenses as the main factor behind the widespread closures in the industry. “We’re seeing a trend toward saving, choosing cheaper vacation options, and slightly shortening trips,” he said.
According to Sletat.ru, the average price for tours to Egypt increased by only 0.2% over the year, to Turkey by 1.5%, and to Thailand by 2.5%, while trips within Russia, as well as to Vietnam, the UAE, China, and Abkhazia, showed a decline of 0.2–39.6%, depending on the destination.
According to Travelata.ru, the number of package tours booked in Russia from January to June fell by 31% year-on-year, while Sletat.ru estimates the decline at 22%. International destinations were unable to compensate for the losses caused by the US-led war in Iran, which affected the entire Middle East: from early March to mid-June, tour sales to several countries in the region were banned, and air travel was restricted.
As a result, the volume of international tour bookings remained roughly at last year’s level, according to Travelata.ru and Fun & Sun. Meanwhile, Russian Express recorded a 5% decline in bookings. Tour operators incurred additional losses due to mass refunds for cancelled trips. After the closure of Middle Eastern destinations, the losses amounted to over 19 billion rubles, and then companies faced cancellations of tours to Sochi and annexed Crimea, much of which was left without fuel, electricity, and water due to Ukrainian strikes .
As a result, many travel agencies closed because they were unable to restructure their businesses after the decline in demand; general economic factors, including tax increases, also played a role, Bragin noted.
Earlier, Sergey Romashkin, Vice President of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR), reported that demand for domestic tourism in the first half of the year fell by 3% year-on-year to 40.1 million trips, while in the same period last year, there was growth of 7% (to 41.4 million trips).
A Vedomosti source at the Ministry of Economic Development claimed that domestic bookings in June fell by approximately 4% year-on-year. The ministry representative also attributed the decline to “difficulties with fuel supplies.”
(C)THE MOSCOW TIMES 2026