Tour operators have not yet been able to resume their own programs in Hainan
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The resumption of visa-free group exchanges with China failed to significantly change the market situation for Russian participants in the outbound tourism market. Despite the interest of tourists, operators are unable to form programs for Hainan due to the employment of the few purchased wide-body aircraft in destinations with guaranteed high demand, such as Thailand.
Tour operators have not yet been able to resume their own programs to Hainan Island in China: OnlineTur.ru and Travelata.ru spoke about the lack of Kommersant’s offers. Maya Lomidze, executive director of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, confirmed that there are no programs, although the business is working on resuming them. The interlocutor of “Kommersant” on the tourist market connects the difficulties with the lack of free planes. Kommersant’s interlocutor, close to the Ministry of Transport, noted that carriers are being held back from launching flights by insufficient, by their standards, demand in the face of a shortage of a suitable fleet.
Interest in a beach holiday in Hainan has grown after the resumption of visa-free group exchanges between Russia and China from August 1 this year.
The possibility of a trip to the island is mentioned in 10% of requests from tourists, says Igor Blinov, a representative of OnlineTur.ru. Before the pandemic, he recalls, Hainan was one of the ten most popular resorts, forming 4-5% of sales, and was considered a relatively budget destination.
The Russian Express explains that tourists who travel along the same route, accompanied by a tour operator employee in a team of 5-50 people, can use visa-free exchange. The rest must obtain ordinary visas, for which there are almost no windows, or apply for electronic ones ($150 per person), entering through Shanghai airport. Tourists can fly to Hainan separately according to visa-free lists, but only by direct flights from Russia, they say in Russian Express.
The Chinese aviation authorities have established an open skies regime in Hainan, says a Kommersant source in the industry, and the Rosaviatsia confirms carriers’ applications for permits without restrictions. As of August 10, according to Kommersant’s interlocutor, more than 50 permits were issued for regular flights to Haikou and more than 150 to Sanya. Dmitry Gorin, Vice-President of the Russian Union of Travel Industry, clarifies that dual-registration ships, only redeemed ones, cannot fly to China. According to his estimates, Russian companies now have 200-300 such aircraft, and only a part of them are wide-bodied.
Kommersant’s sources in the two airlines say that China will become a priority if it is possible to buy a few aircraft before the end of September.
Aeroflot told Kommersant that they are considering the possibility of opening regular flights to Hainan. Anex Tour is also considering a flight program to the island. Tours to Guangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai on regular flights are in demand, they added.
Changing existing flight programs in favor of Hainan is risky. Intourist representative Daria Domostroeva explains that many wide-body aircraft are busy for the winter under Thailand, where more than 800,000 Russians have arrived since the beginning of the year. “Carriers are more profitable to put flights that are guaranteed to be full,” she says. According to Mrs. Domostroyeva, exchange rates are growing and it is not a fact that tours to Hainan will be budget. Dmitry Gorin adds that Rus-tour and Tartus-tour, which specialized in Hainan, left the market during the pandemic. Perhaps, he adds, Hainan Airlines will launch direct flights in the Russian Federation in the fall.
The interest of independent tourists to China is rather stable. Yandex Travel and OneTwoTrip did not notice a sharp increase in ticket bookings after August 1. In recent months, the PRC has formed 2.2–2.5% of foreign sales at Yandex Travel with an average check of 50–55 thousand rubles.
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