Anxious tourism: what scares Russians in the New Year

This year, the Russians, as never before, have taken care of where and how they will celebrate the New Year. But at the same time, they are more than ever afraid that their plans will fail. Even if these plans come down to clinking glasses of champagne with the closest ones at midnight.

What scares compatriots the New Year and is it as scary as some “paint” it for themselves?

So far, only dry statistics speak about the New Year’s plans of the average Russian, compiled mainly by order of tour operators based on tourist bookings and mass surveys. And he immediately warns: 98% of those who have already thought about ways to celebrate the New Year are worried that their plan will not work out. Given that, according to the figures, about 30% of fellow citizens have not only decided how and where they will celebrate the New Year, but have already booked or completely paid for tours with the capture of New Year’s Eve.

Of these, one half is on their way abroad, and the other to Russian resorts – but both halves are equally worried. Among those who prefer the New Year away from home, judging by the bookings, Turkey is in the lead, Thailand is in second place, Egypt and India are in second and third. For holidaymakers within the Fatherland, the Black Sea coast is in the lead, in particular Sochi and Krasnaya Polyana (sanatoriums are in demand at the bottom, chalets for skiers at the top). At the same time, 40% of those who go to the sea inside the country have purchased vouchers to medical and recreational institutions. In second place are the domestic ski resorts of Sheregesh, Dombay and Arkhyz, in the third place is excursion tourism, mainly with children (visiting Santa Claus (Veliky Ustyug), Snegurochka (Kostroma), Baba Yaga (Yaroslavl Region), Karelia and Kazan), as well as to both capitals.

Alas, the numbers cannot explain what exactly worries 98% of these disciplined people who have taken care of their family’s New Year plans in advance. So we ask them personally. 26-year-old Maria from Moscow is flying with her fiancé to Istanbul on December 27, the couple already has tickets in their hands. But instead of joy, Masha, by her own admission, “was already all writhing”:

“Borey and I, this is my fiancé, saw tickets to Istanbul for 40 thousand rubles round-trip,” Masha shares. – And, of course, they were immediately seized, it was just the other day. And only then they began to think where to stay, where to go on New Year’s Eve. As a result, we spent a lot of money – we booked a hotel and a New Year’s ball in a trendy club. And this club is on Istiklal Street, where there was an explosion yesterday! Now I don’t want to go there anymore.

– Istiklal Street is very long, it passes through the whole of Istanbul, and one shell, as they say, does not fall into the same funnel twice!

– So Borya says so, but my attitude towards Istanbul is already spoiled. I’ve never been there before, and I don’t want to be in that mood now. You never know what the terrorists will think there on New Year’s Eve, since they have already begun.

A family from Krasnoyarsk – mother Tanya, father Dima and 6-year-old son Anton – fly to Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, at the end of December, to relax for a week at the local ocean resort of Hikkaduwa.

– We saw a tour to the ocean for two adults and a child for 140 thousand rubles, and even with a flight from our city, and could not resist – they grabbed it, – says the mother of the family. “Now I think they got excited. In this Sri Lanka, as they say in chats, the power is cut down daily, there are interruptions in food, unrest among the locals. In addition, only the first planes fly there from Krasnoyarsk, there were no such flights from us before, everything has not been established yet. But we have such blizzards that people sit at the airport for three days. If we spend three days at the airport from our week, another day for a round-trip flight, there are three days left. If they suddenly cut off the electricity, my husband will definitely beat someone!

The lucky owners of tours to Tai are also worried, although this direction seems to be reliable – there are no unrest, there is light, the New Year celebration has been worked out for decades of mass tourism. Moreover, direct flights not only appeared, but also multiplied: from Moscow alone 14 times a week, and they also add boards from the regions straight to Phuket

“Thailand has become very cheap,” another resident of the same Krasnoyarsk shares. – Our friends flew to Phuket for 10 days in September … for 700 thousand rubles for two! On connecting flights, yes, but it’s still a mockery. We can’t afford such a vacation, and if we had money for it, we would get up in the throat. I’d rather buy something useful for a child with such money. And my husband found one for the same Phuket for two with a child for 100 thousand rubles with a ponytail, with a New Year’s celebration right at the hotel. Bought, happy day. And now we read in chats that it is no coincidence that Tai has fallen in price. There is such a gigantic influx of tourists from Europe that Russians are shoved into the most terrible hotels. And when he arrived, it’s too late to argue, only to sue the travel agency. And this is just wasted money, time and nerves.

Fellow citizens who have New Year’s tours in Indian Goa, where charters from Russian tour operators have recently risen, are worried about the mood of the Goan authorities, who invent new bans for tourists almost every day. And what is the New Year, if music and alcohol are prohibited after 22.00? And what are the chances that the Goans will make an exception for celebrating New Year’s Eve in our way (In Goa, only Catholic Christmas and Indian New Year are celebrated). A family from Kemerovo bought a tour to Myanmar, direct flights to which have only been promised but not yet launched, and now they are afraid of a price increase.

– What if they say that since they didn’t launch direct ones, pay extra for connecting ones, otherwise the money for the tour will disappear altogether! tourists are worried.

According to statistics, 6% are considering the possibility of spending the New Year on a trip, but have not yet booked anything. 5% are choosing the right option right now, about the same number have already left for where they plan to spend New Year’s Eve, 38% will stay at home to meet New Year’s Eve in a narrow family circle. Maybe at least they are calm? But, alas, no. Those who have not yet bought are afraid not to have time to buy a New Year’s tour at an adequate price. And who has already found it, fears that it will change after booking. Those who have already left are worried that they may not fly home on time due to events on the ground. And even those who do not leave the house on New Year’s Eve call anxiety their main New Year’s emotion, and watching the news is their main fear.