A visit to some – Newspaper Kommersant No. 147 (7348) of 08/13/2022

Calls to limit the issuance of Schengen visas to Russians made tourists nervous: the number of applications to specialized agencies jumped by 40%. Russians fear that the procedure for obtaining visas to travel to Europe will become as complicated as to travel to the United States. Travel business urges customers not to panic. It is now difficult for Russians to obtain a visa due to the limited number of places to apply, but market participants have not yet noticed a deterioration in attitude towards applicants.

The negative information background has provoked a rush demand of Russian tourists for obtaining Schengen visas, two interlocutors in the tourism market told Kommersant. According to one of them, travelers tend to draw up documents for the future, fearing further problems. Another Kommersant source adds that it is mainly about tourists who act on their own or through visa agencies. Marina Shirokova, head of the corporate department at Visakhod, says that the number of applicants has grown by 40% over the past two weeks. “This was especially felt at the end of the week, against the background of statements by the Estonian authorities,” she clarifies. According to Ms. Shirokova, every second client wants to apply for a visa for the future, mainly for trips with children to Europe during the autumn holidays.

The tourist flow of Russians to Europe began to grow this spring against the backdrop of the lifting of restrictions due to COVID-19. But the number of travelers remains small. Maya Lomidze, executive director of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, points out that now the flow of Russians to Europe has recovered by 5-10% from the pre-crisis level. They are mainly interested in visiting popular resort destinations – France, Spain, Italy and Greece. But due to limited air traffic, many tourists get there through Finland and the Baltic countries. As a result, for example, the head of the consular service of the Finnish Foreign Ministry Jussi Tanner said in an interview with the local TV and radio company Yle about the desire to limit the transit flow of tourists. Estonia announced the closure of borders for Russians with Schengen visas issued by the country. And the Bloody Lady Telegram channel told the story of a Russian woman who faced the annulment of a five-year Schengen visa issued by France at the border post in Narva.

Kommersant’s interlocutor in the tourism market says that travelers are now most frightened that the Schengen procedure will become similar to obtaining a US visa.

“That is, formally it will be possible, but in fact it will only be possible through a trip to a third country,” he points out. Although Marina Shirokova says that in her company tourists are advised not to panic. “If all of a sudden, the possibility of obtaining Schengen visas is closed to Russians in principle, it is unlikely that they will be able to freely enter European countries with existing ones,” she argues.

According to Maia Lomidze, representatives of the tourism industry generally perceive the situation more calmly: tour operators do not have their own programs to Europe, and the volume of bookings remains insignificant. “In the event of additional restrictions, companies will not suffer serious losses,” the expert explains. The representative of the tour operator Intourist, Daria Domostroyeva, notes that difficulties with visas and logistics are now holding back the flow of tourists to Europe. “Many families with children who used to vacation only in European resorts have shifted their focus to Turkey or the UAE: people don’t want to start the complicated process of paperwork and fly with connections,” she says.

Alina Protsenko, head of the visa support department at Aeroclub Tour, says the situation is reminiscent of the past before visa centers appeared, when people queued in front of embassies at night and resold the queue. The paperwork process has become more complicated, the review time has grown, but the main problem is to find recording slots that need to be tracked not only during working hours, she notes. Marina Shirokova adds that she has not noticed a change in attitude towards the applicants themselves in the visa centers lately: “If the client has a goal and a good visa history, he will receive a visa, although this may be accompanied by difficulties.” According to her, slots appear, sometimes applicants refuse to register.

According to Ms. Protsenko, the most frequently applied for visas are Sweden, Finland, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Hungary, Austria and Greece. But some countries often put single-entry visas under travel dates, she points out. Ms. Shirokova draws attention to the growing number of refusals to process documents through the Finnish visa centers, but they are most often motivated. “People apply for a visa by attaching a hotel reservation in Barcelona to the application, although in this case you need to get a visa from Spain,” she gives an example.

Tour operators are often not involved in this process. Daria Domostroyeva notes that the visa centers of Greece now, in principle, do not accept applications from tour operators, only direct applications are allowed. She adds that according to the declared rules, the terms for consideration of documents also do not depend on who exactly submits them. And the interlocutor of Kommersant in the market notes that the documents of individual visa companies or agents can be considered on a priority basis, but such clients are served through VIP lounges.

Alexandra Mertsalova