St. Petersburg is the most popular destination for families with children vacationing this summer, according to a joint study by Tutu and VTB. The study reveals shifts in travel preferences and spending habits, both domestically and internationally.

Domestically, St. Petersburg leads with 20% of families choosing it as their destination. Moscow follows with 12%, and Sochi with 11%. Adler accounts for 4%, while Kazan and Kaliningrad each attract 3% of families. Gelendzhik, Sirius, Yeysk, and Vladivostok each account for 2% of family travelers.

For families venturing abroad, Abkhazia is the top choice, attracting 37% of travelers. Belarus is the second most popular international destination with 28%, followed by Italy at 7%, Turkey at 6%, and Georgia at 4%.

The study also indicates a trend in accommodation preferences, revealing that 54% of bookings within Russia and 42% of bookings abroad are for hotels without star ratings.

Yuri Vyushin, Director of Hotel Market Development at Tutu travel service, notes a significant increase in bookings for June-August, rising to 24% compared to 13% last year. He also stated that the average cost per night for a family of three this summer will be 7,000 rubles.

Furthermore, children are actively contributing to vacation spending through their own bank cards. VTB reports that clients spent over 15 billion rubles on children’s cards in the first five months of this year, which is five times more than the previous year. The most common expenses for children are supermarkets (6.3 billion rubles), fast food (1.4 billion rubles), marketplaces (527 million rubles), and cafes and restaurants (438 million rubles). The highest average spending per transaction was observed in electronics (3.5 thousand rubles), travel services (2.9 thousand rubles), clothing and footwear (1.4 thousand rubles), and pet care (884 rubles).