Morocco decided to lure Russians on holiday

For the first time since March 2022, Russia has resumed direct flights with Morocco, a country with a developed tourist infrastructure and Atlantic beaches. Tickets have already appeared on sale – within 40 thousand rubles one way. Will this “new old” tourist trail in the eyes of the Russian tourist displace his favorites – Turkey, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates?

According to domestic tour operators, so far you can get to Morocco only on the wings of a Moroccan airline. This is good: since the Moroccan carrier has no restrictions on flights over foreign territories, a flight, for example, from Moscow to Casablanca will take, as in the good old days, only 5 hours and 50 minutes (for comparison, to Tunisia, which is closer to the Russian Federation, instead of the previous 4.5 hours, the Russians get either three days, if by way, or for 300 thousand rubles, if direct).

“On Wednesday at half past six in the morning, the first board of the Moroccan carrier landed safely in Moscow and flew to Casablanca with the Russians on board a few hours later,” a domestic travel agency reported. – The price of tickets is quite reasonable, but Russians cannot pay only on the official website of the airline, only through a domestic aggregator or travel agent. Compared to what happened in May, this is a breakthrough. Vacationers can be congratulated.

And in May, if you believe the statistics collected by experts of the domestic service for online ticket sales, Russians bought tickets for as much as a million rubles!

According to the rating of the network platform for purchases from April 28 to May 10, the Emirati Dubai was in the first place in terms of throwing money to passengers from the Russian Federation: for a round-trip flight in business class on the eve of the May holidays, a Muscovite paid 1,066,675 rubles.

“Silver” is also in Dubai: 773,372 rubles, also a business class from Moscow.

In third place is a business class flight from the Russian capital to the Greek Thessaloniki with complex logistics for 731,903 rubles in both directions.

The ticket purchased by the Russians for 481,155 rubles from St. Petersburg to Vienna and back is also impressive.

Thai Phuket closes the top five, where a vacationer from Vladivostok rushed for 363,043 rubles.

Among the most expensive, according to Russian aggregators, are also direct flights from Moscow to Yerevan, Mexico City, Paris, Antalya, Harare, Tbilisi, Guangzhou and … within Russia. For example, an air ticket from Moscow to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and back before the holidays was purchased for 200,470 rubles.

As for the Moroccan Casablanca, they promise flights there from Moscow twice a week, and they promise to keep the price at the level declared by the carrier, that is, “from $438”. To enter Morocco, Russians only need a passport: there is a visa-free regime between our countries, and Morocco canceled covid tests last fall.

– Turks with Egyptians should be alert! Not to mention the Emirates with their prices – I throw a bait in a domestic travel agency.

– As for the flight, yes, Morocco has “made” everyone now. In particular, Tunisia, which was much more popular among Russians before the pandemic. And not only because it is closer and generally cheaper. It’s just that in Tunisia there are more resorts on the Mediterranean Sea where you can safely swim. And Morocco has only 450 km of the Mediterranean coast and 2 large resorts, by definition more expensive. The rest are in the Atlantic, and there with swimming, as everywhere on the ocean – waves, wind. Even in Morocco, all-inclusive hotels are not popular, there are almost none. And prices are on average higher than in Turkey and Egypt. As for the UAE, Morocco is not a competitor either: Russians fly to Dubai so expensively not only to bask in the sun, but mainly on business.

– What then, besides these five strongest – Turkey, Egypt, Sochi, Crimea and Tai – dream of Russians who have a vacation in the summer?

– About direct flights and charters to the Maghreb – to the resorts of West Africa, and this is not only Morocco, but also Tunisia, Algeria and Mauritania. Prices there are lower than Moroccan ones, the atmosphere is calm, friendly to the Russians. But at the same time, from Russia to Tunisia, either 3 days on 4 planes, or for big money.

And all the good news for vacationers so far, alas, refers only to the same notorious tourist “five”. For example, in Turkey until the end of the summer extended the provision prohibiting landlords from raising rents by more than 25%. Simply put, until the end of summer, you can still rent a corner in a Turkish resort from a private owner at the same prices, but experts warn that this “pre-election” action will end with the elections.