Russia’s Homegrown Online Travel Firms Poised for Competitive Reset
Photo Credit: A deluxe suite at the Four Seasons Hotel in Moscow, next to the Kremlin. In Russia, entrepreneurs are optimistic about the Russian online travel market. Just ask OneTwoTrip, Aviasales, and Ostrovok. Four Seasons
Skift Take
Some analysts believe the online booking giants of Europe, the U.S., and China will sweep the world. Call it "travel giant triumphalism." But Russia may prove a treacherous market for foreign brands, opening a gap for local players.
Russia has to some extent been a humbling market for foreign online travel giants such as Airbnb, Booking Holdings, Expedia Group, and Trip.com Group — so far. The past couple of years has brought upheaval that may favor homegrown travel players catering to Russian-speaking travelers, such as Aviasales, OneTwoTrip, Ostrovok, Biletix.ru, and Tutu.ru — at least for now.
Russians have long shopped patriotically, often favoring homegrown brands. Exhibit A: They use Russian search giant Yandex. Google has second-place popularity. Yandex offers travel price-comparison search that's much more substantive than Google's content today.
The rare foreign brand to break through in a big way in Russia has been Booking.com. Before the pandemic, the brand accounted for about 70 percent of online travel sales of Russian hotels according to tour operator Svoy TS. But the brand has faced turbulence recently.
This summer, the Netherlands-based giant of a U.S. conglomerate is challenging the c
