"Black Friday" is associated with Thanksgiving Day, one of the most popular holidays in the United States. Its traditions were established in 1621 by the first settlers from the Old World, who decided to celebrate the day of gratitude to God for the first good harvest. The day off always falls on the last Thursday in November, families gather together for a large feast, the house is decorated with bouquets of flowers and yellow leaves, and stuffed turkey and pumpkin pie, corn on the cob, chestnuts and apples are obligatory on the table.
Holiday of discounts
In the 1950s, American stores began announcing the day after the holiday, Friday, as the start of the biggest sales of the year – Christmas sales. The term Black Friday itself is believed to have appeared in the early 1960s in Philadelphia, and at first it was understood as the high congestion of streets and roads on the Friday after Thanksgiving.
In the first decades, the term Black Friday was not particularly widespread and well-known, but it came into widespread use in its current meaning in the 80s. In about half of the American states, this day even became a day off for government employees.
Since 2005, the last Friday in November has been the busiest day of the year for American department stores. In the decade since then, 10 shoppers have been killed and 11 injured in the stampede to buy merchandise. However, the rush has died down in recent years as online stores have begun to offer Black Friday deals, and their customers don't have to wait in line.
In Russia, stores began announcing discounts on Black Friday several years ago, but the tourism market began participating in this promotion only recently, and so far it cannot be called very popular among those who offer services in the tourism sector.
Air tickets
As the PR director of the ticket search service Aviasales Janis Dzenis reported to the Interfax-Tourism portal, participation in Black Friday has been confirmed by Pobeda Airlines, Emitates, airBaltic, Utair, Oman Air, Finnair, Korean Air, Turkish Airlines and Nordwind.
"You can literally fly anywhere, and carriers will discount the fare by up to 50%. Most tickets are immediately discounted, but in some cases you need to enter the promo code RUAVSLS. Discounts on flights with the promo code RUAVSLS reach 50%," says J. Dzenis.
According to him, the promotion will start at midnight on November 23, and all special offers from partner airlines will appear on the promotion page. black.aviasales.ru.
Aviasales advises to prepare passport details and plan the route in advance, so as not to waste precious minutes when booking. "As a rule, the most popular destinations fly away at an unimaginable speed, so you need to act quickly. On a number of dates (for example, the New Year holidays), some carriers have restrictions, while the principle of fair prices remains unchanged," emphasizes the company's PR director.
In the online agency Kupibilet.ru They also plan to celebrate Black Friday with bonuses for buyers, and the agency’s partner airlines are offering discounts on air tickets to popular destinations, the company’s public relations manager Yana Lavrova told the Interfax-Tourism portal.
The promotion starts at midnight on November 23 and will last exactly 24 hours – until midnight on November 24.
"Customers will be offered increased cashback in the app. "Travel Enthusiast" will receive 3%, "Fan" - 3,75%, "Guru" - 4,5% points from each order. In addition, we are increasing the maximum threshold for spending points from 2,000 to 3,000 for all customers. That is, if you have 3 thousand accumulated points, you can spend them on one order. So the ticket will be indecently cheaper," said Ya. Lavrova.
Last year, many of the world's largest low-cost airlines participated in Black Friday - Air Asia, Ryanair, Norwegian, Wizz Air and others. Most likely, on November 23, we should also expect low prices on air tickets from them.
Hotels
Almost all major international hotel chains participate in Black Friday, offering discounts on rooms at select hotels ranging from 30 to 50%, depending on the region.
Accor Hotels, which manages many hotel brands, called the campaign Travel Friday and offer discounts of up to 40% from November 22 to 26 in almost all hotels of the chain. Including, by the way, those located in the most popular tourist cities - Paris, London, Barcelona, Rome and others.
From Russian networks to shares participates Azimut Hotels. From November 23 to 25, discounts of up to 50% are also available at 36 hotels of the chain, mostly located in Russian cities. These are three hotels in Moscow, two in St. Petersburg, two in Sochi, two in Vladivostok, as well as hotels in Astrakhan, Samara, Voronezh, Suzdal, Kostroma, Nizhny Novgorod, Pereslavl-Zalessky and other cities. In addition, discounts will be available at seven hotels of the brand in Germany and one in Vienna.
The discount can be obtained by using the promo code BLACK when booking. In addition, with this promo code, guests of Azimut hotels will receive free Wi-Fi throughout the hotel, a daily bottle of water, free accommodation for children under 12 with parents, early check-in and late check-out, as well as a room upgrade subject to availability.
Online hotel booking services have also announced discounts for Black Friday. For example, on Booking.com from November 22 to 27 you can book hotels with discounts up to 40%. As part of the promotion, you can choose from 285 hotels in Rome, 138 in Bangkok, 128 in Istanbul, 48 in London, 38 in Madrid. However, you must check out of the hotel before March 31.
The hotel booking service Ostrovok.ru is also participating in Black Friday. From midnight on November 23, users are promised discounts up to 50%.
Tour packages
"This year we are following a popular international trend and have been specially preparing for the promotion, asking our partners for profitable, exclusive and interesting offers. We expect that the promotion will generate great interest among clients and an increase in bookings. The full list of offers will appear only on the day of the promotion. Special discounts will be valid for exactly 24 hours, starting from midnight on November 23," said Larisa Akhanova, PR Director of Tez Tour.
According to her, as part of the campaign, the tour operator will offer tours to 24 destinations, including New Year holidays. Hotels of many international brands are participating. The most generous discounts can be obtained in hotels in Bulgaria (up to 30%), Catalonia, Mallorca, Tenerife and Sicily (up to 25%), Dominican Republic (up to 30%).
"If we talk about gifts, since tourism is primarily services, we will offer quite an impressive list. On Black Friday, you can get fishing in the Indian Ocean, a romantic dinner on an ocean beach, gift certificates for visiting spas, museums and shops, a photo shoot on a fairy-tale island or transfers in luxury cars," added L. Akhanova.
Tour operator TUI Russia offers those who book tours on the website from November 22 to 25, promotional codes for discounts of one thousand, two thousand and four thousand rubles when booking tours costing from 20, 40 and 80 thousand rubles, respectively.
Most major tour operators do not offer special discounts on Black Friday. This was reported to the Interfax-Tourism portal by the companies Coral Travel, Anex Tour, Biblio Globus, and Intourist. The press service of Intourist explained this by the fact that from November 1 launched promotion of early booking of tours for 2019, which already offer big discounts. "Discounts from Turkish hotels within the promotion reach 40% from net prices, and the flight program is open from 15 cities," said the company's public relations director Daria Domostroyeva.
Source: tourism.interfax.ru
