MOSCOW, 13 September 2022. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) conducted a survey about how Russians spent their summer vacation this year.

You won’t trick summer!

Recent years have been tough for vacation planning due to the pandemic and difficulties travelling abroad. Before the pandemic, in the summer of 2019, 8% of Russians went abroad on vacation; in 2020, when the coronavirus restrictions hit, this share almost dropped to zero but later, in 2021, it reached 13%.

Only 2% of Russians spent summer in another country. Every third Russian stayed at home doing household chores (33%). The 2020 pandemic saw the highest number of those who stayed at home (37%); 21% preferred not to go anywhere last year. Another popular vacation spot is dacha or private garden (28%); the percentage of Russians who opt for this destination has not changed since 2018. Another stable group of Russians are those who do not take time-off in summer (20%). This year there has been an increase in the number of Russians who prefer to go on vacation within Russia: 16% (+5 p.p. by 2021 and +7 p.p. by 2020); however the number of respondents who prefer the Krasnodar krai resorts has been the same (7%).

What influenced the summer plans?

Thirty-five percent of Russians say that their summer plans have been accomplished – they spent summer vacation where they were going to. They are mainly young Russians aged 18-24 (50%); non-working students (56%); persons satisfied with their income  (50%), i.e. those who are not loaded with financial difficulties and who have a guaranteed opportunity to have a summer vacation. Every third respondent did not have summer plans (30%) – primarily older age persons  (43%), non-working retired persons (44%); Russians with secondary special or lower education levels (36-45%); those who are not satisfied with their income (35%); residents of small settlements under 100 thousand inhabitants  (37%), and active TV viewers (51%). Seventeen percent of Russians had to change their summer plans this year. They are more likely young Russians aged 18-34 (28-26%); Russians with higher education diplomas (23%); entrepreneurs (29%) and active Internet consumers (24%). Seventeen percent of Russians did not have a summer vacation this year – they are basically respondents aged 35-59 (23-22%), Russians who assess their financial situation as “bad” (30%); and rural area residents (21%).

Lack of money is the basic reason why Russians changed their summer plans (23%). Most of them are Russians aged 45 (29-25%), non-working retired persons (35%); persons with secondary special or lower levels of education (28-29%); those who assess their financial situation as “bad” (43%), and rural area residents (31%). Eighteen percent of Russians blame work; they are primarily men (24% vs. 13% of women), young respondents aged 18-34 (22-27%), persons with secondary education diplomas (23%) and average income (22%). The current socio-political situation, and in particular special military operation followed by airport closures and sanctions caused 10% of respondents in this group to change their summer plans. The coronavirus is no longer a strong reason; it was mentioned by 1% of those who changed summer plans and 3% of older adults.

VCIOM-Sputnik Russian nationwide telephone survey was conducted 4 September, 2022. A total of 1,600 Russians aged 18 and over took part in the survey. Survey method: telephone interviews using a stratified random sample based on a complete list of mobile phone numbers in use in Russia. The data were weighted according to social and demographic characteristics. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level does not exceed 2.5%. In addition to sampling error, minor changes to the wording of questions and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork can introduce bias into the survey.

September 4, 2022 survey key effectiveness indicators:, cooperation rate (CR)* = 0.8590; minimum response rate (MRR)** = 0.0242; response rate (RR)*** = 0.1691. Calculations based on corporate standard:   https://profi.wciom.ru/principy_standarty/korporativnyj-standart-po-izmereniyu-rezultativnosti-oprosov-sputnik-vciom/ 

August 5, 2022 survey key effectiveness indicators: 1,600 respondents, cooperation rate (CR)* = 0.8275; minimum response rate (MRR)** = 0.0213; response rate (RR)*** = 0.1696. Calculations based on corporate standard:   https://profi.wciom.ru/principy_standarty/korporativnyj-standart-po-izmereniyu-rezultativnosti-oprosov-sputnik-vciom/ 

* CR: the number of complete interviews divided by the sum of: а) complete interviews and b) non-interviews with eligible respondents.

** MRR: the number of complete interviews divided by the sum of: а) complete interviews, b) interrupted interviews after successful screening and c) all the respondents where it is unknown whether they meet the selected criteria or not.

***RR: RR is calculated in the same way as MRR, with the only difference that the number of respondents with unknown eligibility decreases proportional to the percentage of eligible cases in the total number of respondents with identified eligibility or non-eligibility.

* In 2018-2021, Russian nationwide telephone VCIOM-Sputnik survey was conducted with a sample of 1,600 Russians aged 18 and older. Survey method:  stratified random sample telephone interviews based on a complete list of mobile phone numbers in use in Russia. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level does not exceed 2.5%.