August 27, 2015. Provided the ruble/dollar exchange rate remains more or less at the current level, the number of Sverdlovsk Region residents who will be able to afford a vacation abroad will shrink by 30% to 40%, Director of Natalie Tours Yekaterinburg branch Oleg Khiger told UrBC.

‘If things remain as they are, foreign travel market will sag by 30% to 40%. If the ruble keeps on growing weaker, the decrease might reach 50%. This means that the overall tourist market will only make up around a quarter of what it looked like a year earlier. Those who could afford to travel four times a year will bring it down to one or two times, while people who already had a hard time finding the money even for the cheapest bargains will simply have to stay at home,’ he said.

Khiger feels the locals’ poor buying capacity excludes any chance of more expensive trips enjoying any demand.

‘Despite the growing prices, the average amount of money people spend on a trip isn’t likely to go up. It came to 32,000 to 34,000 RUR this summer, and there are no economically grounded reasons why people can be willing to spend more,’ he said.