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Monday, November 30, 2015
Tourism If the threat posed by terrorists persists, Russians may abandon their favourite budget holiday destination
Egypt is the second mostpopular destination for Russian tourists. AFP/EASTNEWS
Russian tourists look for alternatives The terrorist attack that brought down the Russian passenger airliner over Egypt on Oct. 31 may divert tourist flows to other countries. The question now is whether the industry will be able to find a substitute. ANNA KUCHMA RBTH
Back on Nov. 6, Russia suspended all flights to Egypt, removing a country that accounted for about a fifth of Russia’s outbound tourism from the list of Russians' potential holiday destinations. “Given Russians’ reduced purchasing power, for our tourists (especially those living in Russia’s European part) Egypt has in effect become the only beach holiday destination in winter, and the current situation does not bode well for the tourist industry,” said Roman Zakharov, editor-in-chief of Flight Line magazine.
Egypt is the second most-popular destination for Russian tourists. According to the Federal Tourist Agency (Rosturism), in 2014, it was visited by 2.5 million Russian holidaymakers. “This year’s top three destinations for Russians, on the strength of the summer season, were Turkey (32 percent of the total number of outbound tourists), Egypt (19 percent), and Greece (12 percent),” said Yekaterina Bezhanova from Onlinetours.ru. According to Rosturism, in the first six months of 2015, the top three destinations were Egypt, Thailand, and Germany, with the UAE coming in fourth (in the first six months of the year, it was visited by 107,000 Russian tourists, a quarter of the number going to Egypt). In the autumn-winter season this year, Egypt was expected to become an absolute leader. According to Bezhanova, by November
2015 (before the Sinai attack), it accounted for 40 percent of outbound tourism, and could have reached 50 percent. According to data of the Russian Tourist Industry Union, some 140,000 trips to Egypt have already been sold for the period to March 2016.
The UAE remains at least 50 percent more expensive than Egypt, making it considerably less attractive. In market participants’ estimates, overall losses caused by the ban on flights to Egypt may amount to over $300 million. This is not the first time that the Russian tourist industry has come up with problems when it comes to Egypt. In January 2011,
when the Arab Spring started, flights were suspended for two months. In August 2013, because of a new political crisis in Egypt, flights were suspended for three months. However, once the bans were lifted, tourist flows to the country quickly picked up. Yet now the situation may take a different turn. “Until now, the proverbial ‘fearlessness’ of Russian tourists prevailed. We are always reluctant to abandon our favorite resorts, and return there very quickly," said Roman Zakharov. "However, this time the fear of flying is stronger. If the threat posed by terrorists is confirmed, Russians will act rationally and will refrain from travelling to Egypt.” In this situation, the only way out for tour operators is to offer other destinations to their clients or ask them to postpone their trip.
Where will Russians go now? Industry insiders expected that for many Russians, the main alternative to Egypt would be Turkey. However, after the the downing of the Russian Su-24 bomber all leading Russian tour operators have suspended the sale of tours to Turkey at the recommendations of the Foreign Ministry and the Federal Agency for Tourism. Another option is offered by beach resorts in Southeast Asia: Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. “For Russians living beyond the Urals or in the Far East, a trip to Vietnam or, for example, to China’s Hainan may be even cheaper than Egypt,” said a source at the Rambler.Travel service. “Interest in the UAE has overall grown by 13 percent. For example, Sharjah has seen a rise in search queries of 55 percent,”said Mikhail Sokolov from the OneTwoTrip company.Yet the UAE re-
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mains at least 50 percent more expensive than Egypt, making it considerably less attractive. Israel too has joined in the competition for Russian tourists. Its Tourism Ministry has offered to subsidise charter flights from Russia to the tune of 45 euros per person, which translates into 21 percent of the cost of a flight. Another potential beneficiary of “the ban on” Egypt is domestic tourism, especially when it comes to summer holidays. “Some Russians will go to the Black Sea coast instead of Egypt. Yet Crimea will definitely not become a second Egypt,” said Yekaterina Bezhanova. The main obstacles are the allinclusive system that is so beloved of Russians and that Sochi and Crimea hardly ever offer, and the climate, which limits the appeal of Russian resorts to summer and early autumn.
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