The Russian Union of Tourism Industry (PCT) considers logistical problems to be the main ones for resorts in the south of Russia.
“Since JULY 1, there have been no train tickets to Sochi from many cities, in particular Moscow, Rostov, Voronezh, until the end of August. For two months there were no tickets for the Adler –Anapa Swallow. The insufficient preparation of Russian Railways for the growth of tourist traffic is obvious: there is only one train per day, and the tourist flow is simply huge. Seeing that there were no tickets, people switched to their own cars, and as a result, the whole road is in traffic jams for hours,” said Aleksan Mkrtchyan, a member of the PCT Board. PCT Vice President Yuri Barzykin confirms that highways are experiencing the greatest congestion.
Many hours of traffic jams on the Crimean Bridge are now not only at the entrance to the republic, but also at the exit. The waiting time is permanently more than three hours. For example, on August 16, 1200 cars were registered in the queue from Taman, and 1100 cars from Kerch.
On August 15, the cost of one train ticket from Anapa to Moscow set another record – 214 thousand rubles.
But just two days before, the press service of the Federal Passenger Company explained that the exorbitant price for a seat on the train (86-92 thousand rubles on August 13) is due to the fact that the Russian Railways ticket sales system now has only tickets with transfers and the high price consists of the fact that the proposed route includes a free one suite or St.
But in addition to transport problems, the problem with the availability of recreation has not been solved. “Citizens want to relax in Russia comfortably and at an affordable price. And now it is sometimes cheaper to go abroad,” said Ivan Abramov, a member of the Federation Council. Aggregators also note the trend towards increasing demand for travel to European countries. Thus, according to one of the domestic online hotel and apartment booking services, the volume of hotel bookings in some countries in the second half of 2024 increased to 70%, among the leaders are Italy, France, Spain, Hungary, Montenegro, Bulgaria and Greece.
Another major domestic travel planning service claims that the share of booking flights abroad and hotels outside the country by our fellow citizens now stands at 53%. It turns out that more than half of all trips that are planned in general are foreign. Thus, the Philippines and Hungary are among the leaders in the growth of demand for autumn. Greece, France, Portugal, Vietnam and Japan are slightly behind them.
Of course, we must take into account that the clients of both aggregators are independent travelers, and the clients have their own preferences – Turkey, Egypt, the UAE and Thailand.
CTP
Details of the expansion of the CTP policy for Belarus announced last week have become known. It will be paid. The cost of such an add-on can reach up to 20-40% of its price. Now the CTP policy costs an average of seven thousand rubles, respectively, the supplement will cost 2,500, auto experts predict. Travelers can also apply for a green card, which is an analogue of an insurance policy. Its price for a period of 15 days in Belarus is approximately one thousand rubles. For those who do not plan frequent trips to a neighboring country, a green card may be cheaper than an addition to a CTP policy.
Thieves on the plane
Russian tourists complain about money theft on Uzbekistan Airways flights. Over the past month, several cases of theft of money from passengers on planes on flights to Denpasar, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur have been revealed at once. The attackers do not just take money out of backpacks and suitcases, but put other cash there, for example, Uzbek bags, so that the victims do not immediately notice the loss. According to the security service of Uzbekistan Airways, there is indeed a problem. The SB believes that the Chinese are operating on the flights.
Russians are wasteful
According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UN Tourism), Russians entered the top 10 most wasteful tourists in the world by the results of 2023, taking 9th place. The Chinese are in the first place, the Americans are in the second, followed by the Germans, the British and the French. Russia, by the way, rose from 11th place to 9th in 2022. But in 2019, Russians ranked 6th in the world in this indicator, so we have a lot to strive for.
France has become the most visited country in the world, hosting 100 million tourists in 2023! Spain is in second place with 85 million tourists, and the United States rounded out the top three with 66 million. Next on the list are Italy (57 million) and Turkey (55 million). As for income from international tourism, the United States leads the ranking, earning 176 billion US dollars in 2023, followed by Spain (92 billion), Great Britain (74 billion), France (69 billion) and Italy (56 billion).
Visa News
The Visa Application Center (VC) of France, after a large-scale distribution of slots until the end of October, decided to refund the payment of the service fee at the time of registration for submission. The payment was canceled back in May, and after that they began to give out slots in whole bundles. Anyone could sign up “for the future”, “let it be”, as well as not come at the appointed time without any financial costs. As a result, absences, according to some reports, may now amount to 30%. Therefore, we returned to the old scheme, in which, due to non-attendance, the service fee (about 3 thousand rubles) It doesn’t come back.
The Hungarian consulate informed that applications for a travel visa can be delayed up to 45 days. The Bulgarian EC in Moscow, after an almost two–week break, resumed accepting documents for Schengen visas and warned about an increase in the processing time of applications – from 21 to 45 days.
The Italian Embassy in Belarus announced selective monitoring of the targeted use of issued visas – when applying for a visa again, applicants were asked to provide evidence of previous trips to Italy – proof of residence, air tickets, personal expense checks or bank statements. These confirmations are not mandatory, but they can play a positive role in deciding whether to issue a visa. Experts do not yet believe in the implementation of such recommendations in the Italian EC in Russia, but we would not swear that this will not happen.
From August 15, you no longer need to fill out the Traveller Declaration form when departing from the Maldives. Previously, it had to be filled out before arriving in the Maldives and before flying back. The form is filled out online in English and requires uploading photos and passport data of each tourist.
In Ethiopia, they decided to reduce the cost of a 30-day tourist e-Visa by almost a quarter – to $ 62. Pakistan has abolished fees for an electronic visa (e-Visa), tripled the list of questions in the visa application form and promised to issue a free visa for 90 days within 24 hours. As a rule, climbers who seek to conquer the second highest mountain in the world, Chogori Peak, also known as K2, go to Pakistan for tourist purposes.
Starting from September 1, Cambodia will have an e-Arrival, an electronic questionnaire for air passengers arriving in the country. It will replace paper forms of immigration, medical and customs declarations.
Excessive tourism
Activists in Spain continue their fight against tourists. The other day, vacationers on the Balneario beach in Playa de Palma watched an action called “Take over our beaches.” About a hundred local residents spent the most noisy time on the beach, running into the sea with screams and screams. Eight police officers watched the action.
Troubles in Europe
All airports in the European Union will again ban the transportation of liquids over 100 ml in hand luggage. The restriction will take effect on September 1. Previously, modern and EU-approved 3D scanners were installed at some airports, thanks to which restrictions on the carriage of liquids in the cabin of aircraft were lifted. The authorities claim that the restrictions are temporary and related to “certain technological problems,” but they do not name any deadlines or conditions when the ban can be lifted.
Holidays in Italy may become more expensive next year due to a significant increase in the tourist tax – the authorities have prepared a bill that proposes to extend the tourist tax to all 7,904 Italian municipalities (today major cities and tourist centers have this right) and link it not to the hotel category, but to the room price. In this case, if the room price is less than 100 euros, the tourist will pay 5 euros of tax, for a room from 100 to 400 euros – up to 10 euros, for a room from 400 euros per day – up to 15 euros, for a room from 750 euros per night, the tax will be up to 25 euros per day.
Currently, travelers in Italy pay a tourist tax depending on the hotel category, region, and season. The highest tax is now in Rome – a tourist pays 10 euros per night in a five-star hotel.
Where in the world is tastier than everyone else
The Restaurant magazine named the best restaurant of 2024 – Barcelona’s Disfrutar, which has three Michelin stars. In second place is another Spanish restaurant – Asador Extebarri, in third place is the Parisian Table by Bruno Verjus. The top five also included Diverxo in Madrid (Spain again) and Maido in Lima (Peru). The list has been compiled since 2002 based on the opinions of more than a thousand chefs, restaurateurs and critics.
Invitation to partnership – t.me/snn1964
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Источник: argumenti.ru
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