The problems of Chinese tourism in Moscow and St. Petersburg are increasingly being discussed in the media. However, this issue is also pressing in other parts of Russia. As representatives of the Primorsky tourism industry told the TRN portal, the situation with Chinese visitors in the region is simply catastrophic.
According to local guides, the number of incoming tour companies focused on the Chinese market has significantly declined over the past 15 years. "Due to intense competition and pressure from Chinese partners, they are forced to operate virtually at break-even. The directors of large companies have met several times to establish a uniform price and secure at least some profit, but after 15 years, they have been unable to reach an agreement. The very next day after negotiations, each tour company would resume lowering prices, arguing that their partners would defect to competitors," one of TRN's sources said.
Moreover, local carriers are also suffering significantly. "We can now say that to secure a group of tourists, at best, carriers have to pay 50% of the booking cost. At worst, they work for a percentage of purchases in stores, etc., the lion's share of which goes to the Chinese guide," say local tourism industry representatives.
However, even this income could soon disappear. "The Chinese have already built their hotels, brought in their own transport, and are organizing all the paid programs themselves, from which only Chinese tour companies and Chinese guides profit. Ultimately, all the money simply flows back to China. And the worst part is, they are already dictating prices for the only service fully provided by Russian businesses—boat rides," notes TRN's source.
At the same time, any attempts by guides or individual tour operator directors to somehow change the situation fail, as local businesses are simply afraid of losing their last source of income.
"Qualified interpreters have been driven out of the market: instead, Chinese groups are led by either students or simply chaperones. Chinese interpreters tell tourists such nonsense it's downright scary, starting with the idea that Primorye is Chinese territory seized by the Russians and ending with the idea that Russians are all liars and drunks," says a certified Chinese-language guide and interpreter from Vladivostok.
"The market is effectively completely controlled by the Chinese. Russian travel companies are in crisis, unable to raise prices or make a profit from any services. Travel agencies are on the brink of closure, skilled workers are unemployed, the Chinese are thriving, and all earnings are being taken back to China," he notes.
Another unfortunate aspect for business, according to the interviewee, is the fact that the region has an informal "tax" on Russian translators: "Without a salary, upon returning to work, if the group hasn't purchased anything in stores, the Russian translator must fork over 20,000-35,000 rubles. Fortunately, some travel agencies have already begun to abandon this practice, but a number of companies continue to collect money this way."
Ultimately, representatives of the local tourism industry unanimously declare that the current situation in the region is simply appalling, yet the Primorsky Krai authorities are in no hurry to defend the Russian tourism industry…
It's worth noting that, according to experts, the current situation in Primorye is directly linked to the visa-free regime for tourist groups between Russia and China.
As the Association for the Promotion of Russian-Chinese Tourism emphasizes, the current state of affairs arose thanks to the introduction in 2013 of a new procedure for issuing documents through insurance company databases.
"The means for transcoding Russian information into Chinese and Chinese into Russian is unregistered private foreign software hosted on a server in Germany. The software, which facilitates the exchange of information between Russian and Chinese insurers, belongs to the Hong Kong firm Team Profit Consultants Limited, whose founders are close relatives of several Russian officials. They, along with insurance companies, are the main beneficiaries of the visa-free travel between Russia and China. The SIS system (No. FS-77130348), which enterprising officials have mandated for use in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, is designed to provide remote access to this software," the association told TRN.
They also emphasized that the system itself is being used as a cover for the expansion of foreign travel agencies, depersonalizing both the receiving and sending parties. "Using this system, Chinese travel agencies, in violation of the current memorandum, are able to put a group of tourists up for auction online, and the lowest bidder on the Russian side wins the prize. This is precisely how Russian tour operators, who naturally cannot operate at a loss, are being squeezed out. Meanwhile, private individuals hosting Chinese tourists, posing as company representatives, receive their 'margins' from those very same illegal shops," the association explained.
Source: trn-news.ru