“Wagner” is gone, the music remains: why domestic Russian tourism will not be the same

On Saturday, June 24, now included in the people’s memory as “Wagner”, the domestic tourism industry felt itself over the abyss, most of all the excitement was for domestic tourism. We learned how these fateful hours affected the state and mood of this area, as well as summer vacationers.

– At that time, our hellish state was quite justified, – they share in the capital’s travel agency. – We were cut off the phone with demands to cancel the purchased tours and return the money. But for those whose vacation is scheduled for the next 2 weeks, it is already impossible to give anything away, the money has already been paid to carriers, hoteliers, etc.

According to tour operators and agents, fellow citizens rented previously purchased tours not only to the Russian south, but also abroad. Companies organizing bus tours to the south were forced to cancel them. And autotourists, who got into 12-hour traffic jams on their way to the sea, changed plans and turned home, thus letting down those who had booked accommodation. But after the retreat of the rebels, everything quickly returned to normal: the roads were opened, the sightseeing buses took to the routes, and many who urgently flew abroad also “gave” their unused vouchers to travel agencies, since legally the sellers of tours are not responsible for their sudden departure, so no compensation is not required.

– So you are still in profit? – I am clarifying my question to the tourism industry about whether something has changed in domestic tourism.

– Well, in profit – this is unlikely, – they answer in the capital’s travel agency, – but everything has stabilized. Clients frayed their nerves, of course, both for us and for themselves. And they continue, by the way, to wag. Those who were able to cancel the tour on Saturday, but did not leave Russia, are now asked to “take it and restore everything.” But it’s not that easy. Those who flew away on Saturday, and they all, without exception, overpaid for air tickets by 3-10 times, are now also calling, asking for a “set-off” with an unused tour.

– How is it?!

– Well, for example, a married couple bought a weekly tour to Turkey at the beginning of July, for more than 100 thousand rubles for two. But on Saturday, out of fear, they flew to the same Antalya on one-way tickets at the price of their entire tour. And now they call from there and say: we’ll rent a place for a week at our own expense, and from the date the tour starts, we’ll drop into the hotel assigned to us. And you arrange for the airline to return the money for Saturday tickets to us, it seems like we arrived on a tour, only a little earlier. But that just doesn’t happen. Yes, we have the same carrier and it is cheaper, because we buy blocks of seats for our tourist product in advance. But this does not mean that we can demand compensation from him for the fact that our client abruptly broke somewhere. In general, some nerves.

Since Sunday morning, aviation prices have returned to normal, and by Wednesday they promise to reach a “historical minimum” at all. They say this is because everyone who wanted to have already left, and the rest are just coming to their senses.

“Every year in early July, with my husband and two schoolchildren, we go to the Crimea in our car,” says one of the Muscovites who “have not yet come to their senses”. – We have been doing this for many years in a row, staying in the same place, with the same hosts we have known for a long time, but still we always prepare for the trip in advance. And now we are almost on the suitcases. But now I’m not sure we won’t cancel the trip. We don’t have money to go abroad, so we’ll go to my husband’s mother in the village.

– But why?! Everything is back to normal!

– Yes, I know. But the sediment, as they say, remained. It’s just that the mood is gone, and it’s scary. What if something else happens, since it could happen?! Maybe this is a feature of my personal perception, but my husband understands me perfectly. The track, on which we always rode in high spirits, will never be the same for us.

Some vacationers this summer even turned to psychologists with a request to “work with their fear”, otherwise the money for the tours was paid, they don’t want to lose them, but it’s scary to go. And through force – what kind of vacation?

“The condition of such people depends not only on their individual characteristics – the degree of anxiety, suspiciousness, etc., but also on the degree of stress they were before the notorious Saturday,” explains psychotherapist Venera Abrahamyan. – If a person has long been subconsciously excited, frightened, confused, anxious, and often this happens subconsciously, and we ourselves do not know about it, then last Saturday became just a “litmus test” for him, after which all phobias climbed out. For example, it sincerely seems to a person that he is “irrationally” frightened by the upcoming vacation in the Krasnodar Territory, although he understands with his mind that everything has worked out there. But it’s not the planned trip that scares, but everything that happens around. And this is not treated with a single word, but with serious restorative therapy of the psyche and nervous system.

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