Biletix 2016 Results

December 22, 2016, Moscow - The key trend of the tourism market in 2017 will be the development of domestic and incoming tourism as well as the strengthening of healthy competition among tourist destinations. At the same time, in connection with the expansion of the airlines' own presence in the online environment, online travel agencies will seek to expand the range of tourism products, improve the quality of services and provide the fullest possible access to information. These and other trends were discussed by Dmitry Gorin, CEO of Vipservice Holding, Advisor to the Head of the Federal Agency for Tourism of the Russian Federation, and Aleksandr Sizintsev, CEO of online travel agency and tour operator Biletix, during the online press conference "Russian Tourism Market: 2016 Results, 2017 Prospects'.

According to 2016 results, the reduction of organized outcoming tourism amounted to 20 %. At the same time, the market of domestic organized tourism increased by 18 %, and the market of organized incoming tourism - by 6 %. The tour operator market responded quickly to these changes: the number of tour operators specializing in outcoming tourism fell from 2,500 in 2014 to 750 in 2016, while the number of tour operators specializing in domestic tourism increased from 700 to 3,700. In unstable economic conditions, active consolidation of players occurs, for which reason in 2016 the top 20 companies accounted for 80 % of sales, Dmitry Gorin noted. Sales of air and railway tickets of Vipservice Holding grew to 13,162,000 tickets (+ 5 % compare to 2015) during the year, while turnover increased by 1 %, to 90 billion rubles. The holding's plans include adaptation to the new economic conditions, further technological development and moderate growth of the financial and operating performance.

Online travel agencies are becoming an important player in the tourism market both as a tourist service and as a source of information when promoting regions and routes, Biletix CEO Aleksandr Sizintsev stressed. Growth of air ticket sales on the basis of 2016 results was + 0.5 %, reaching 1.1 million. At the same time, the company's turnover from air ticket sales decreased from 20.6 billion to 19.1 billion (-7 %) due to reduction of the average check for air passenger transportation by 14.3 %, from 10,260 rubles to 8,758 rubles. On domestic routes, the average check dropped by 15.2 % from 7,996 rubles to 6,784 rubles on foreign - by 3.3 % from 13,497 rubles to 13,058 rubles. This factor, as well as lower commissions from airlines, is forcing the agency to develop the non-aviation segment of services: in Biletix, the sales of railway tickets increased by 3 times. The agency has continued to expand the range of additional aviation and non-aviation services for travelers.

"Reduction of the average check is due to the fact that passengers are increasingly choosing more cost-efficient 'flexible' tariffs, refusing from the traditional services such as excess baggage transportation or meals on board. In Biletix, the share of sales of non-baggage tariffs reached 30 %, while the number of air tickets sold for the flights of Russian low-cost carrier 'Pobeda' increased by 3 times,' Aleksandr Sizintsev noted.

One of the key trends of 2016 is the development of the mobile sales channel. The share of the mobile channel increased from 14.3 % to 18.2 % during the year. "Users are not afraid to make relatively large payments via mobile devices any more. In 2016, the average check in the mobile channel amounted to 7,752 rubles, while the most expensive purchase made through a mobile device cost 425,352 rubles. The iOS platform accounted for 59 %, Android - for 41 %,' Aleksandr Sizintsev commented.

The share of 2016 sales was 65 % on domestic routes and 35 % - on international routes. At the same time, the company's turnover from air ticket sales amounted to 45 % on domestic routes and 55 % - on international routes.

The most popular domestic destinations were Sochi, Simferopol and Saint Petersburg, foreign - Chișinău, Tivat and Tbilisi. 2014 was the first year that Simferopol was not ranked first on the list of the most popular domestic destinations, Aleksandr Sizintsev noted.

The average air travel check for the coming New Year holidays, taking into account the early bookings, also decreased by 38 % from 9,437 rubles to 5,936 rubles on domestic routes and by 30 % from 21,913 rubles to 15,495 rubles - on international routes. The most popular domestic New Year destinations were Sochi, Krasnodar and Saint Petersburg, international - Tbilisi, Chișinău and Phuket.