Nearly half of Russian citizens plan to spend their summer vacations at home, although if they had a chance, they would rather travel abroad.

Survey: Plans for summer holidays

Every year WCIOM.ru asks Russian citizens where they plan to spend their summer vacations. This summer one in 10 Russians is planning to travel abroad, which is the highest level since 2004 when the poll was conducted for the first time. Last year only 4% of respondents planned to travel abroad.

Options of free accommodation (such as coach surfing apps and sites) allow people to travel even on a very limited budget. If you buy tickets in advance, it’s also possible to save a lot. Thus, traveling abroad becomes more and more popular, especially among young people who embrace all the advantages of the share economy.

The most popular option picked by 44% of respondents was to stay at home for the vacation. This is mostly due to the lack of funds (53%), with some people staying at home because of family matters (small kids, pregnancy, etc.).

Spending the summer holidays at the dacha (country side house where locals grow vegetable, berries, and fruit) remains the second most popular variant: 26% of respondents intend to enjoy working on their garden patches at the dacha.

9% of locals will travel to another town in Russia, the same share of holiday makers is going to the Black Sea coast to enjoy the beach. Crimea is the preference of 6% of respondents as the place to spend time off.

14% of people are not taking a vacation during the summer, while 10% are not traveling because of health reasons, and further 6% simply love relaxing at home.

Traveling abroad is in vogue

• If they had enough money and had a choice, 39% of respondents would spend holidays in foreign country (as compared to 10% who are going).
• 31% would visit Crimea (as compared to 6% who plan to go).
• 26% would fly to the Black Sea coast (instead of 9%).
• Only 12% would still stay at home.
• Dachas would only attract 9% of devotees.

Holiday spending

This year Russians plan to spend 2% less on holidays than in 2018: 43,333 RUB (around USD 660).

Last year they were going to spend more even in rubles, but in dollars it was $707. So, in dollars the drop is nearly 7%.

To pay for the trip, 1 in 2 respondents is saving money (43%) or even getting a second job (10%). 5% of the people plan to take a bank loan (or put it on credit card). Although 22% of respondents have enough funds to pay for the trip from the regular income.

Over half of Russians don’t travel for vacations

2 out of 3 Russians think that this year’s summer vacation won’t be better or worse than the holidays last year. 19% of survey participants think it will be better, while 13% think it will be worse.

In total, 15% of all people took a trip (within Russia or outside the country) in the last 5 years, while 28% travelled more than once. 57% of respondents didn’t travel within the last 5 years either locally or to a foreign destination.

Holidaying in Russia

When taking a holiday within the country, locals give thumbs up to the nature and the climate and thumbs down to the costs of travel. They also believe holidays in Russia offer pretty good opportunities to learn something new, safety for tourists and the quality of people who are also vacationing there.

So, if you wish to invite your Russian girlfriend for a vacation together somewhere (in Russia or abroad), most likely she will be thrilled! Find out when is her next vacation and you may have more fun that you could expect.

Read also:

• What is a Russian girl like?
• Top-5 reasons to marry a Russian woman
• At what age do girls in Russia, Ukraine usually get married?
• Ian (USA) and Yulia (Russia): ‘We are engaged!’