Typhoon Yagi ruined a vacation in Hainan
A strong tropical cyclone that struck several countries in East and Southeast Asia made Russians who were vacationing on a Chinese resort island nervous.
The Philippines was the first to be hit by the elements – 20 people were killed and 26 were missing. Then there is Hainan Island, Guangdong Province in Southern China and the northern regions of Vietnam. The Chinese Meteorological Administration has recognized super typhoon Yagi as the strongest autumn typhoon to make landfall in China since 1949. In total, the typhoon claimed more than 400 lives (in addition to the countries already listed, people died in Thailand and Myanmar), more than 1,000 people were injured, and about 200 were missing.
In Hainan, the main impact of the storm fell on the city of Haikou, the infrastructure of the city airport was damaged, the air harbor did not work from September 6 to September 11. The Hainan Airlines Haikou – Moscow flight with Russian tourists, both independent and organized, could only fly on the 11th instead of the 7th. But if organized tourists were settled in hotels by tour operators (TO) while waiting for a flight home, then the Chinese airline did not provide accommodation for independent travelers, although according to all international rules it had to provide its passengers with hotel accommodation in case of flight delay, even if it is associated with natural disasters. They are also dissatisfied with the carrier: “Now tourists are paid for extra nights at a hotel on Hainan Island by tour operators for their money, and the Chinese airline is inactive. At the same time, it would be possible to find options: to fly from Sanya or negotiate with other airlines. But Hainan Airlines is just waiting, and Russian tour operators are paying for this expectation,” says Vitaly Stamatov, CEO of a domestic airline.
The Russian Consulate General in Guangzhou has issued a message “On the situation in Haikou City”, which, in particular, says: “We would like to draw attention to the fact that the airport in Sanya, which is located at a distance of about 250 km from Haikou, is operating normally, and from there you can fly to Moscow on Aeroflot flights every day except Wednesday.” There is not a word about the position of the Chinese carrier in the message, except for the phrases on duty: “We are in touch with the local government authorities of Hainan Province and the air carrier Hainan Airlines. In particular, we sent a corresponding note to the Office of Foreign Affairs of Hainan Province with a request for assistance to Russian citizens stuck at Haikou airport.”
The element in the form of floods due to heavy rains hit Central and Eastern Europe. In Austria, meteorologists call the downpours “incredibly strong, possibly unprecedented.” The northeast of the country has been declared a disaster zone. It is reported that a firefighter was killed. Four people died in Romania as a result of rainfall and flooding. The first fatal accident also occurred in Poland. At least four people are missing in the Czech Republic.
Prices are rising
In the first half of 2024, air travel prices in Russia increased by almost 20%, reaching an average of 9150 rubles, said Roman Starovoit, head of the Ministry of Transport, referring to FAS data. The reasons are an increase in passenger traffic, the cost of maintaining aircraft and higher prices for fuel and airport services. To curb the price increase, it is proposed to use “wet leasing” – the rental of aircraft with a crew. This mechanism has already been allowed since September, and, for example, Aeroflot is already negotiating with Aurora Airlines. The option of coastal transportation is also being discussed – domestic flights with the participation of foreign airlines, which can increase competition and reduce prices. Negotiations on this issue are already underway.
Vice President of ATOR (Association of Tour Operators of Russia) Sergey Romashkin predicts that New Year’s holidays in Russia will rise in price by about 20% compared to last year’s holidays.
Meanwhile, ATOR calculated the average check (according to the data of the maintenance and online booking systems) of the implemented package tour with a flight to the top 5 most popular mass foreign destinations where Russians go on vacation in September and the first half of October:
Turkey – 230 thousand rubles for two (with an average stay of 8 nights, all inclusive);
Egypt – 208 thousand rubles for two (8 nights, all inclusive);
UAE – 224 thousand rubles for two (7 nights):
Thailand – 210 thousand rubles for two (11 nights, breakfast);
Abkhazia – 122 thousand rubles for two (8 nights).
Errors in the passport
It became known about two more lawsuits in which tourists who did not fly away to rest due to errors in their passport managed to get their money back.
In the first case, a resident of Ozersk (Chelyabinsk region) with her husband and child wanted to fly to Thailand in January. However, the border guards seized two passports with errors: her and her son. The husband did not fly away on vacation alone, of course. The woman sued the Ministry of Internal Affairs, demanding 465 thousand rubles in damages, 100 thousand moral damages, 30 thousand lawyer expenses and payment of state duty.
The defendant, the department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ozersk, asked the court to dismiss the claim, since defects in passports arose due to technical failures, and not due to employee errors. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the husband could have flown away himself, and the woman should have noticed errors in the passport, reissued it and left for the remaining days of vacation. However, the court decided that the mistakes were the fault of the Interior Ministry staff. Since the purpose of the trip was precisely a family vacation, the argument about the husband was also not accepted. As a result, the Ministry of Internal Affairs must pay the woman all the costs of travel and the court. However, the court reduced the amount of moral damage to 30 thousand rubles.
In the second case, a resident of the Starominsky district of the Krasnodar Territory was unable to fly with her husband from Vnukovo to Thailand due to an error in her passport. It turned out that her passport indicated a male gender, and even twice – “M/M”. The border guards seized the document, and the family lost a tour to Thailand for 206 thousand rubles, since in this case the husband refused to travel.
The woman filed a lawsuit against the agency that issued her a passport with a typo, the Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation for the Starominsky district of the Krasnodar Territory. At the meetings of the Starominsky district court, the defendant gave the same arguments as in Ozersk, the typo was a technical error for which they were not responsible, and the tourist’s husband could have gone on vacation alone, but voluntarily decided not to fly. But even here the court took the side of the tourists and decided to recover damages in full from the Ministry of Internal Affairs in favor of the tourist, as well as compensation for moral damage in the amount of 20 thousand.
A typical passenger
One major domestic travel service analyzed the purchases of air and railway tickets and compiled portraits of typical passengers. For example, a typical train passenger is a man named Alexander. He is 40 years old and prefers to travel in the summer, in July and August. Tickets are purchased 20-22 days before the trip. And the typical airline passenger’s name is Elena, she is 47 years old. She also prefers to travel in July and August, and spends an average of 64 thousand rubles on air tickets per year. To plan a flight for the summer months, Elena buys economy class flights 25 days in advance with departure on Friday or Saturday. She usually travels with a partner or alone, less often with children.
Excessive tourism
Greece will introduce a fee of 20 euros for cruise ship passengers arriving on the popular islands of Mykonos and Santorini in the summer. This is necessary to regulate the tourist flow in these areas, said Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. According to him, “cruise shipping is burdening Santorini and Mykonos,” and that is why measures are being taken. Currently, cruise passengers pay only 35 cents when disembarking in Santorini. In addition, as we have already reported, the authorities intend to limit the number of cruise ships that can arrive at the popular islands at the same time. In particular, starting next year, a daily limit for arrivals by sea will be introduced in Santorini – no more than 8 thousand people per day.
Bali wants to declare a moratorium on the construction of new hotels, villas and beach clubs in some areas of the island. In this way, the Indonesian government wants to solve the problem of excessive development, which negatively affects the preservation of the island’s original culture, because traditional rice fields often fall under construction.
The fight against cash
The fight against the “gray” business has unfolded in Turkey. The Tax Administration has prepared amendments to the law that will allow fines to be imposed on tenants who pay off apartment owners in cash instead of bank transfer, as well as on unscrupulous landlords themselves. The fine will amount to 10% of the monthly rental price, but not less than 5,000 liras. In addition, the Turkish Ministry of Finance is preparing to impose fines for paying for large purchases in cash. We are talking about an already existing restriction – any purchases more expensive than 7 thousand liras in Turkey must be paid with a bank card. The penalty for such a violation will also be 10% of the purchase price, but not less than 5 thousand liras. Moreover, a fine will be imposed on both the seller and the buyer.
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Источник: argumenti.ru
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