On October 29, the rainy season in the Kingdom of Thailand officially gave way to the “high” season, which will last until the end of February. Tour operators (TO) are planning charters to Thailand from 17 regions of Russia for this winter season.
– The analytical service of ATOR (Association of Tour Operators of Russia) analyzed the change in minimum prices for travel packages with arrivals for November holidays compared to last year. It is noted that prices for tours to Thailand have not increased, but there is even a slight decrease. The same situation – a slight decrease – for tours to Istanbul. The maximum cost reduction (by 10%) was recorded for tours to the UAE and Kaliningrad. Tours to St. Petersburg and Sri Lanka remained at the same level as last year.
But there is, of course, an increase in cost. Insignificant – for tours to Abkhazia, 10% – for tours to the Maldives, 15% – for tours to Egypt, 27% – for tours to Cuba, more than 50% – for tours to Sochi (coastal cluster). Antalya is the leader of growth, tours to this Turkish resort have increased by 100%. If you look at the money, then on average the cheapest tours can be bought to Sri Lanka, Cuba and Venezuela, and the most expensive – to Qatar, the UAE and the Maldives.
If we talk about the popularity of destinations, the most bookings were recorded in Egypt, slightly less in Turkey, and the UAE is in third place.
The Palestinian-Israeli conflict
The fighting has so far been localized in the Gaza Strip, but last week there were two arrivals in Egypt. One rocket landed near the city hospital of the resort town of Taba, six people were slightly injured. Taba is located near the border with Israel (about 200 km from Sharm el-Sheikh to Taba), but it is still unknown where the rocket was launched from.
Another arrival was recorded in the Egyptian resort town of Nuweiba, located on the shores of the Red Sea, about 60 km from the border with Israel. There are no organized tourists from Russia in Taba or Nuweiba, as usual, nothing is known about independent travelers – although Taba, for example, is popular with divers, and the so-called Colored Canyon is located next to Nuweiba.
Egyptian Ambassador to Russia Nazih Naghari once again assured that Egyptian resorts are safe for Russian tourists. However, this week it became known that the tour operator IZI Tour has withdrawn the flight program to Sharm el-Sheikh from Volgograd, Sochi, Mineralnye Vody and Makhachkala. The company claims that flights are canceled due to the conflict in the Middle East, but industry experts believe that the nod to the conflict is an excuse to hide their own miscalculations. For example, in August, the same airport prematurely stopped flights to Antalya from Ulyanovsk and Murmansk due to insufficient aircraft loading.
Concerts and shows are canceled in Dubai “due to the situation in the world.” The performances of singer Amr Diab, rappers Sean Paul and Khalid and many others have been canceled.
It arrived in Makhachkala
But the most unexpected “arrival” happened at Makhachkala International Airport, which on Sunday evening was seized, destroyed and looted by an excited crowd of residents of the republic – supporters of Palestine. About one and a half thousand young people searched for several hours at the airport for Jewish refugees, who were allegedly brought by a Red Wings flight from Tel Aviv. The work of the airport turned out to be paralyzed, the plane from Dubai, which arrived at about the same time, did not dare to let passengers out of the cabin, as an angry crowd with Palestinian flags ran along the takeoff half the night. According to the Ministry of Health of Dagestan, more than 20 people were injured due to riots at the airport, 10 of them were hospitalized, two are in serious condition.
The Federal Air Transport Agency immediately closed Makhachkala Airport for receiving aircraft until November 6, but on Monday morning adjusted the suspension period of the airport until October 31. The planes that were supposed to land in Makhachkala were redirected to alternate airfields.
We will not write here about the reasons, goals and organizers of the seizure of the airport, we will only note that from the point of view of the tourism industry in Dagestan, a strong blow has been dealt.
Aeroflot got – 2
We continue, as promised, to tell about the story of a technical glitch on the Aeroflot website, which caused super–cheap (8-15 thousand rubles) tickets on the Yekaterinburg – Phuket route to be thrown on sale. There have been two news stories on this topic over the past week. Firstly, the national carrier extended for a month – until November 30 – the validity of promo codes issued to passengers after canceling tickets to Phuket for 8 thousand rubles. Airline customers will be able to book seats on flights to the Thai island with a 30% discount, departure is possible until March 30, 2024.
Secondly, Rospotrebnadzor stated that it was keeping the situation under control and was ready to assist Yekaterinburg – Phuket ticket holders in preparing claims and statements of claim, and was also considering filing a class action. Rospotrebnadzor reminds that cancellation of tickets at an erroneous price is illegal, since the airline’s offer on the website is a public offer. The Airline does not have the right to unilaterally refuse to provide services.
Roskomnadzor also recalled a similar position of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, which in the October review of consumer protection cases emphasized that “the seller does not have the right to unilaterally change the price announced at the time of placing an order.”
Temporarily free of charge
The Sri Lankan government has approved the decision to cancel the visa fee for Russians. “The Cabinet of Ministers approves the issuance of free visas for India, China, Russia, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia and Thailand with immediate effect as a pilot project until March 31,” Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabri wrote on social networks.
Let’s explain – the visa application procedure remains the same – upon arrival at the airport, tourists fill out a special form or receive an electronic visa online, but they are temporarily exempt from paying the visa fee, which is $ 60, until March 31, 2024.
About love
In the Grand Canyon (USA), tourists were forbidden to hang “love locks” on the fence, and all previously hung symbols were dismantled with the help of wire cutters and the slogan “Love is strong, but not as strong as our wire cutters.”
The employees of the Grand Canyon National Park had to declare war on the symbols of love because of the problems that California condors – a very rare species of birds from the family of American vultures – deliver keys that lovers traditionally hang up the lock and throw into the canyon. The condors, out of interest, pick up shiny keys and stuff their bellies with them, so that the staff of the national park then have to call surgeons for them.
You can’t make it up on purpose
In the center of Yekaterinburg on the Iseti embankment, for the 300th anniversary of the city, a granite monument with a map of the city was installed on a grant from the Federal Tourism Agency, which local residents immediately compared with a tombstone, especially since the plate is engraved in white on black: “Yekaterinburg 1723-2023”. Yekaterinburg residents immediately staged a flash mob and began to carry carnations to the monument to “honor the memory” of the city.
Who sat down on a field in the Novosibirsk region
The Ural Airlines plane has become a local landmark. Tourists come to the Ubinsky district specifically to look at the airbus, despite the fact that it is surrounded by a fence. They say that even “weddings by the plane” are held. And local authorities have released themed magnets.
In Venezuela, Russian tourists flying on a charter flight to their homeland stopped being given alcohol before departure. Now, when tourists buy strong alcohol at Duty free, they are given a voucher with a number. And then, just before boarding, their purchases are returned by these numbers. It is alleged that the administration had to adopt such a scheme after several fights in the terminal, which occurred due to the use of rum.
Halloween, celebrated on October 31, is an import substitution process in Russia. In Sochi, for example, the Black Sea Day was celebrated on this day. In Tatarstan – “Pumpkin Savior”. And one of the deputies of the State Duma suggested celebrating “The Day of Creepy Fairy Tales and Stories” instead of Halloween.
Sweden invited Switzerland to put an end to the confusion between them and agree on who will be the country of lakes and who will be the country of clocks. A study commissioned by Visit Sweden found that 50% of respondents in the United States are unsure of their ability to understand the differences in Swedish and Swiss cultures, and 28% of British respondents are confident that IKEA and ABBA are Swiss brands. Therefore, the Swedes propose to agree that they will use blue and yellow colors, meatballs, moose, dunes and forest in their marketing, and the Swiss will get red and white, cheese, watches and yodel.
Invitation to partnership – t.me/snn1964
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Источник: argumenti.ru
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