The absence of Russians in European resorts during the past May holidays was a signal that terrible times are coming for Europe's tourism. Experts predict losses in the billions of dollars, TRT World noted.
After the entry into force of anti-Russian sanctions, European resorts faced an economic collapse, which followed due to the extremely low tourist flow from Russia. The May holidays were a tangible signal, which used to be a reason for Russians to travel abroad, and now our compatriots are sitting at home or going to the country. By the way, there are no Chinese tourists in Europe, to whom they have become very accustomed to over the past decade, and who massively bought luxury items, leaving indecent money in the European economy.
But to the horror of the tourism sector, European analysts say that the worst more to come, since European tourists themselves will not be able to make up for the outflow of Russians due to the increase in the cost of air tickets, travel services, food and gasoline. For example, tourists in Germany and the United States are preparing for an unprecedented price shock for good reason: the sanctions imposed by the West against Russia have begun to have the opposite effect for them.
What do foreign media say?
Currently, Russians cannot travel to European countries without spending significant sums and experiencing difficult travels, as on February 27 the European Union completely closed airspace for Russia, and the Federal Air Transport Agency restricted flights over Russian territory to carriers from 36 countries.
In addition, potential travelers from Russia are frightened by the situation in countries recognized by the Kremlin as “unfriendly”. “I waited and hoped that at least in 2022 the coronavirus would go away and freedom of movement around the world would return,” the owner of a large Moscow company told Turkish TRT Russian. “But I think I will voluntarily stay at home now.”
A columnist for the British newspaper The Telegraph said that destinations dependent on Russian tourists are suffering huge financial losses, emphasizing that the Czech Republic, Italy, France are already suffering the most. as well as Montenegro, which used to attract Russian tourists, including buyers of local luxury real estate.
Hoteliers in Europe also fear a shortage of wealthy tourists. Businessmen from Tuscany in Italy and the Cote d'Azur in France warned The Telegraph about the possibility of such a scenario.
Other European media have also confirmed that the absence of Russian tourists has already been noticed by real estate agencies and property owners in Italy. The interlocutors of the newspaper, the owner of the company specializing in the housing market Scalea Nicola Rotondaro and the owner of the restaurant La Playa Salvatore, said that Russian tourists often came here for holidays and vacations, spending much more money than Italians and any other tourists.
< p>“Usually there are a lot of Russians here. Now they are gone, ”the publication quoted one of the Spanish businessmen as saying. “We are already at an impasse. Russians don’t come anymore, they were banned from traveling,” another confirmed, noting that the entire local business is largely dependent on tourists from the Russian Federation. However, according to travel authors, Cyprus will feel the greatest negative consequences from the outflow of Russians from the current situation, since its tourism sector makes up a quarter of the country's economy.
By the way, Turprom wrote that “This is a disaster: the absence of Russian tourists in Cyprus hit another business.”
To make up for the shortage of Russians, the country's hotel association has been busy attracting vacationers from other countries such as the UK, Germany and Israel. But the majority of tourists from these states, it seems, also can not afford the rest. The blame is inflation and rising energy prices.
How much is the loss estimated?
According to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), quoted by ATOR, the global tourism sector could lose more than $14 billion due to the events around Ukraine, anti-Russian sanctions and counter-sanctions. But this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Total Research analyst Nikolai Vavilov told Russian media that Russians annually spent more than $35 billion on travel and vacations abroad, of which at least 60 percent was in European countries. That may not be much compared to Chinese tourists who were spending more than $270 billion annually before the pandemic, but there is an important detail to consider. As the newspaper explained, both Russia and Ukraine were the main suppliers of tourists to neighboring countries, including European beach destinations. And during the pandemic, it was the Russians who came to the aid of the tourism sector of the Maldives, Seychelles and Sri Lanka.
Italy
In 2021, Italy earned more than 200 million euros from Russian tourists. This year, according to the hotel association Federalberghi, Rome alone will lose about 150 million euros due to the absence of our compatriots. Obviously, these calculations are very approximate, because, for example, in 2019, 1.7 million Russians visited Italy, spending a total of almost one billion euros there.
Spain
More than 1.3 million Russians came to Spain in 2019, and their absence in 2022, according to the forecast of the country's Tourism Institute, promises losses of 1.4 billion euros.
Greece
Greece, which received about 120,000 Russian travelers last year despite the pandemic, today almost completely stopped booking for Russians.
Cyprus
Cyprus risks losing up to 2.5 percent of annual GDP if Russian tourists, whose share is estimated at 25-30 percent, do not return to the country before the end of the year, ATOR analysts said.
Exotic destinations< /em>
Even distant exotic Cuba and the Dominican Republic are preparing to calculate losses due to a shortage of Russian tourists. Indeed, according to the UNWTO, during the pandemic, it was Russians who made up the bulk of vacationers (40 percent) on Liberty Island, and in the Dominican Republic they were second only to American tourists, and the consequences of the absence of Russians there have already been called terrible.
For those For those who care about a healthy lifestyle, we recommend reading: “The scientist named the best products for the brain and memory development.”
➔ Watch the news on your smartphone? Subscribe to tourism news from Turprom in Google News or Google Discover: these are fresh travel ideas, travel news and collections on sales of tours and air tickets! Or subscribe to the travel news channel at YANDEX.ZEN or at PULSE.MAIL.RU. We also recommend subscribing to our News Channel in Telegram: https://t.me/tourprom