About the pros and cons of introducing resort fees in Russian regions. Ten days of the new year: Rostourism told where Russians will spend the January holidays Advisor to the head of Rostourism Dmitry Gorin
Advisor to the head of Rostourism Dmitry Gorin told RT where the Russians will spend New Year holidays 2018. According to statistics early booking tours, citizens will go on vacation to Sochi, Moscow and St. Petersburg. There is also a high demand for trips to Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod And Veliky Ustyug. Thailand, Vietnam, India, the UAE and Israel are popular among those who have chosen a foreign holiday.
According to Gorin, the cost of travel this year has remained virtually unchanged: a seven-day vacation in Russia, including travel, will cost at least 25 thousand, abroad - 35-40 thousand rubles per person. What made this season special, he says, was that Russian tourists We started planning our vacation in advance.
“If last year we bought a tour 2-3 weeks before the trip, then this year - at least 1.5 months before. This is a good trend. European travelers plan and book their trips a year in advance. This allows you to significantly save your budget. Don't be afraid. For travel companies, risks are insured by a social responsibility fund, financial insurance and an emergency assistance fund,” Gorin explained.
He also reported that in last years demand for tourism is returning to pre-crisis levels - in particular, this is evidenced by an increase in passenger traffic by 20%.
- Snowfall in the center of Moscow
- Reuters
- MAXIM ZMEYEV
In winter - to warm countries
Mostly Russians choose domestic destinations, says Tatyana Dmitrova, head of the professional tourism portal Turdom.ru. The upcoming long New Year's weekend will also be no exception. Most citizens who go on a trip will spend their holidays in Russia, she reports.
“Sanatoriums, boarding houses, holiday homes, domestic resort areas will be, judging by the results of early booking, loaded. If we compare the flow of tourists, the bulk of the volume will come from Russia, but this is due to independent travelers. As a rule, people travel abroad in an organized manner. Foreign destinations are in demand, primarily warm countries", she remarked.
- Beach in Pattaya city
- globallookpress.com
- XYZ PICTURES/http://imagebroker.com/#/search/
Of the original proposals, the head of the Turdom.ru portal notes North Korea. Eight days in a four-star hotel in the DPRK will cost approximately 150 thousand rubles. There are many new proposals for China, she added.
Dmitrova also explained why Crimea was not included in the list of popular destinations during the New Year holidays. According to her, people go to the peninsula for beach holiday, so the main tourist flow there is in summer and autumn. There will be demand for the January holidays, but it will be much lower, she stated.
“It’s very difficult to compete with Krasnodar region, in particular with Sochi, which can offer ski holiday very high quality: good hotels and tracks,” says Dmitrova.
- Vacationers on ski resort"Rosa Khutor" in the Adler district of Sochi
- RIA News
- Nina Zotina
"Sochi - for every pocket"
Capital Olympic Games 2014 has become the absolute leader in attendance both in winter and summer for several years in a row. This is facilitated by the combination of good developed infrastructure, comfortable transport accessibility and the unique climate of the region, Sochi Mayor Anatoly Pakhomov told RT.
In 2016, Sochi was visited by a record number of tourists - 6.5 million people, and by the end of this year the statistics will be even higher, he claims. Considering that competition has increased significantly due to the return to the Turkish tourism market, the results are very significant. According to Pakhomov’s forecasts, 2018 will also be successful - tours at the beginning of the year are already actively selling out.
“We are already noticing quite a serious demand for the New Year and Christmas holidays. 70% of the offers in Krasnaya Polyana are sold out. Hotel bookings are actively underway Olympic Park, in Adler. We have something to offer. In winter, ski holidays are primarily in demand. But besides this, we have the “Open South” program all year round There are 65 sanatoriums that invite more than 500 thousand people for treatment and recovery,” the mayor said.
The city also maintains its position thanks to competitive pricing policy, says Pakhomov.
“Sochi is for every pocket. And there will be no price increases, I promise you that for sure. Everyone understands that now is not the time to raise prices,” the head of Sochi assured.
- globallookpress.com
- CHROMORANGE/Bilderbox
You shouldn’t try to make your trip cheaper by refusing travel insurance, notes Svetlana Gusar, vice-president of the National Union of Liability Insurers (NULI). This is especially true for ski lovers.
"If you are planning to do active species sports, for example alpine skiing, you must notify the insurance company about this. A corresponding note is made in the contract. This policy costs a little more, but it allows you to receive compensation if an injury occurs while playing sports. Otherwise, the insurance company will not cover these risks,” she clarified.
The cost of insurance depends on the number of days of travel and the age of the tourist. On average, according to Hussar's calculations, a voucher will cost about $30 if the trip lasts no more than ten days.
On January 10, a meeting was held at Rostourism with the participation of the management of Turpomosch and several leading tour operators. CEO of the VIP Service company, Dmitry Gorin told Vestnik ATOR what tour operators and representatives of the federal tourism authorities were talking about at Rostourism.
On Tuesday, January 10, the Federal Tourism Agency discussed the implementation of new provisions of the law on tourism. Who was present at the meeting? What questions were raised?
The meeting at Rostourism was held with the participation of a representative of the Ministry of Culture, the management of Turpomosch and some Russian tour operators. The main one was discussed this moment question - implementation of the law “On the Fundamentals tourism activities in the Russian Federation”, which came into force on January 1, 2017. The main task that tour operators now face is to comply with the requirements of the law before January 31. In particular, we are talking about the fact that tour operators must make transfers to the personal liability fund. Already earned a new version website "Tour Help", where tour operators through the "personal account" can create and open their personal account.
- Was it discussed at the meeting how many tour operators have already opened personal accounts?
Unfortunately, many market participants are still in some prostration. Statistics from the first days show low activity of travel agencies. Perhaps someone has not yet had time to attend to this issue. Others took a wait-and-see approach. According to our information, no more than 20 companies have done this, but the figure is constantly changing. Total in the area outbound tourism There are about 750 companies operating.
Rostourism warned that if tour operators do not have time to bring their activities into compliance with the new law, they risk being excluded from the register. The exclusion is expected to begin on January 31st. Therefore, Rostourism and Tourist Pomosch made a request not to delay compliance with the requirements of the law until last days. The "Tour Assistance" call center is working, accounts can and should be opened.
During the meeting, a proposal was made for “Tour Help” to publish on the website detailed instructions actions of the tour operator to open a personal liability fund account.
There are small operators who could immediately form a fund in the amount of 7% of the total price of the tourism product. In this regard, they are waiting for clarification from Rostourism and the Ministry of Culture as to whether they could use this option for forming a personal liability fund this year.
The bottom line is that, according to the law, if the size of the fund becomes maximum and is at least 7% of the total price of the tourism product, then financial security for liability is not required. And from this moment on, the transfer of contributions to this fund stops. The decision to exempt the tour operator from fees for the next calendar year is made by Tourist Pomosch in agreement with the Federal Tourism Agency in the manner prescribed by the Ministry of Culture.
Now, according to information from tour operators, many are having problems not with the formation of a personal liability fund, but with issuing financial guarantees. This issue existed before and has not been resolved to this day. The ability to max out the personal liability fund could help solve this problem.
- In which banks are personal accounts of tour operators opened?
This information is provided in " personal account"on the website "Tour Assistance". According to the information we have, this is VTB Bank
- What about issuing financial guarantees? You noted that this is one of the main problems now.
The issue of the size of financial support for tour operators was discussed at the meeting. Once again, attention was focused on its change in 2017. According to the Law, in the field of outbound tourism, the tour operator’s financial guarantee is 5% (and not 3%, as was previously) of the total price tourism product, but not less than 50 million rubles. This rule applies to tour operators who sent more than 10 thousand tourists last year, with a total price of the tourist product of more than 40 million rubles.
Those operators who did not operate in the field of outbound tourism last year must also be insured for at least 50 million rubles. All these details are described in great detail in the memo,
The State Duma approved the introduction resort tax in Crimea, Altai, Krasnodar and Stavropol Territory, to begin with as a temporary experiment that will be conducted from May 1, 2018 to December 31, 2022. The fee will be 50 rubles. per day of stay in 2018, with a subsequent increase to 100 rubles, while this does not apply to those living in the private sector, as well as some categories of beneficiaries and children. If the tourist flow decreases, the experiment may be suspended.
There is a resort tax in many countries around the world, where it is generally called a tourist tax. The question here is more about its effectiveness, about tourists’ understanding of what these funds will be spent on and what positive changes will occur in the tourism infrastructure.
It should be noted that it was adopted in the third reading and was adopted taking into account amendments, the opinions of the tourism industry, which, fortunately, the legislators listened to. The fee will come into force not from January 1, as originally planned, but from May 1, 2018; there is the possibility of differentiation or abolition of the fee at the regional level.
I believe that the fee should not be charged for daily stays, but should be a fixed amount for the entire period. As an experiment, public associations are also involved in the expert council on the resort fee, and we will, during the experiment, express our comments and suggestions after the fee begins to function.
How will this affect domestic tourism? In any case, this is an upward change in cost for tourists, including individual tourists, who will stay in hotels or small accommodation facilities. 50 rub. per day, taking into account the average duration of the trip is 14 days and the average number of tourists on a tour package is three, since the vacation is usually a family one. There are exceptions for children, but this increases the cost.
We must pay tribute that this year, due to adjustments in sales volumes on the domestic market, prices are not increasing; we are now even noticing their decline. This suggests that competition in the market has increased, Turkey has returned, and other destinations are also offering subsidies and discounts to Russian clients who travel abroad.
You need to understand that if the balance of price and quality does not match, this will to some extent lead to a decrease in the number of trips. However, if viewed from the tourism industry, the arrival package tours to the tourist market can offset these fees to some extent, because transportation to on a charter flight and a guarantee in a hotel from a tour operator is much more interesting than purchasing a tour individually.
And if we talk about prices, we compile a rating of average prices, and Russia now offers the lowest prices, even if these are 2-3 star properties, but in any case, if we set ourselves the goal of compiling a price rating, then the most economical accommodations are offers in Russia. In any case, this is an experiment, it has now been legally confirmed and recorded, the results can be summed up based on the results of the first season.