Despite the bans: travelers from Russia independently go to Egypt
Russian tourists are tired of waiting for the opening of Egypt and flew to their favorite resorts themselves - according to online booking services, in 2017 the number of tickets booked to the republic doubled, and the demand for hotels in Egypt - by 80%.
A study by OneTwoTrip found that in 2017, the demand for tickets to Egypt between October 28 and November 9 doubled compared to last year. Biletix reports a 30% increase in ticket sales to Sharm El Sheikh from January to October 2017.
The growth of interest in the Arab Republic is recorded by search engines. The number of requests for tickets increased by 57% compared to the same period in 2016. According to Skyscanner, in the first three quarters of 2017, the number of searches for flights to Egypt increased by 45%.
Maya Lomidze, Executive Director of the Association of Tour Operators of the Russian Federation: This year, the Russian tourism industry has already given up on Egypt: the programs for this winter season have been completed, and there are no Egyptian resorts in them again. In the winter season, there is no cheap alternative to tours to this country.”
On October 20, militants attacked a military convoy of the security forces of Iran, and the Russian Foreign Ministry immediately spoke about the activation of terrorist organizations in the country - this negatively affected the possible arrival of travelers from Russia to the beaches. Franz Klintsevich, member of the Federation Council in charge of security issues: “the opening of Egypt is out of the question.”
Photo: tourprom