After a summer in which Ukrainians travelled most often to Turkey, Egypt has returned to the top of winter bookings. That is according to data from tour operator Join UP! Ukraine cited by UNIAN. Interest is also growing in Phu Quoc in Vietnam and Zanzibar in Tanzania.
The summer
From May to September 2026, Join UP! sent more than 210,000 Ukrainians on trips, including domestic tours. Turkey ranked first by bookings, overtaking Egypt, last year’s leader. Greece, Bulgaria, Spain, Montenegro, Tunisia, Cyprus and Albania also made the top list.
Turkey also won on price: summer packages started at 14,750 hryvnias per person in a double room, compared with 19,950 hryvnias for Egypt. The average package price rose 8.6% year on year to about 29,800 hryvnias (around €620). Conflict in the Middle East pushed up jet fuel prices, and operators gradually introduced fuel surcharges.
“This summer, a lot depended on our ability to adapt quickly,” said Join UP! Ukraine director Iryna Mosulezna.
When it is cheaper
October is high season in Egypt for Europeans because of autumn school holidays, so there will be no last-minute deals that month and good hotels are booked well in advance, travel agent Olena Zaika warned in a piece by 24 Kanal republished by MY.UA. The cheapest window, she said, runs from late November to mid-December, between the autumn and winter holidays, when hotels and airlines cut prices. Winds on the coast pick up at that time, so a hotel in a sheltered bay is a better choice.
Where Ukrainians fly from
According to Join UP!, more than half of its departures this summer were from Chisinau, while the shares of Rzeszów and Warsaw fell sharply. This winter Chisinau will also get a direct flight to the UAE, as Ukrainian carrier SkyUp launches Chisinau–Dubai flights from 20 December.
Destination and price data come from a single tour operator and do not cover the whole market.
