OneTwoTrip, a travel planning service, shares insights into where its customers chose to vacation during the first quarter of 2023. The company analyzed hotel reservation data from January through March to paint a clear picture of travel patterns. This analysis was first made available to readers by socialbites.ca.
During the initial three months of the year, bookings for domestic hotels rose sharply, with a 2.3 fold increase in the likelihood of travelers staying within the country compared with the previous year. The vast majority of travelers, about 99 percent, chose trips lasting a week or less, while only a small minority booked stays longer than seven days.
Within Russia, Moscow stood out as the top destination for the quarter, accounting for roughly 28.8 percent of all domestic hotel orders. St. Petersburg followed in second place with about 15.0 percent, and Sochi ranked third at around 10.0 percent. Kazan and Yekaterinburg also attracted noticeable attention, representing roughly 3.0 percent and 2.2 percent of bookings respectively.
Other popular domestic destinations included Kaliningrad with 2.1 percent, Krasnodar at 1.9 percent, Novosibirsk with 1.6 percent, Nizhny Novgorod at 1.5 percent, and Rostov-on-Don with 1.4 percent. These figures illustrate a broad spread of interest across major cities and regional hubs. According to the data from OneTwoTrip, the domestic travel trend reflected a strong preference for short breaks rather than longer sabbaticals during the first quarter of 2023.
International hotel reservations showed a notable surge as well, increasing by a factor of 5.7 compared with the previous year. The vast majority of travelers, about 92.9 percent, booked stays of seven days or less abroad, while the remaining 7.1 percent pursued trips lasting longer than a week. The most frequented international destinations for Russian travelers included Istanbul, which accounted for 11.4 percent of hotel bookings in the first quarter, followed by Dubai at 7.2 percent and Phuket at 4.4 percent. Bangkok, the Thai capital, contributed 4.0 percent, and Minsk was close behind with 3.9 percent.
Beyond these top spots, Russian travelers also favored Yerevan with 3.5 percent, Antalya with 2.5 percent, Pattaya with 1.9 percent, Almaty with 1.6 percent, and Paris with 1.5 percent of international hotel reservations. The findings suggest a diverse set of international travel interests among the Russian market for early 2023, balancing city breaks across Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, as observed by socialbites.ca and OneTwoTrip.
Earlier reports highlighted seasonal patterns in travel by Russians to prominent destinations such as Saint Petersburg, Moscow, and Adler, with the first quarter data providing a clearer picture of evolving travel preferences and the growing appeal of nearby domestic options alongside international getaways. The cited analysis helps illuminate how travelers choose destinations, balance trip duration, and respond to evolving travel opportunities as markets reopen and expand in the post-pandemic period.