Summer is approaching, and every season has its own unique challenges and pitfalls. Travel agencies on the portal TRN talked about what they expect from the upcoming summer and what difficulties they fear.
Head of the sales office of the Quadra network Alina Chikina (Moscow):
"We're looking to the summer with optimism. The challenges will be the same as before—primarily flight delays. Nevertheless, we hope the coming season will be better than the last."
Director of the travel agency "Chemodan" (Voronezh) Ekaterina Khrabskova:
"Turkey is in high demand this year! Tourists have been active since the beginning of the year, and sales are only gaining momentum. The challenge you might face is that most hotels will simply be booked out for the summer before the bulk of tourists decide to book a tour according to the classic plan—two weeks before their vacation, forcing them to choose from available options. A very common question from tourists is, 'What's the best course of action? Should I buy a tour in advance or wait for special offers? What if we buy it now and the price drops later?' In such cases, we answer: 'If you have fixed vacation dates, like the hotel, and the price is right—in short, everything's clicking, there's no need to wait for discounts. After all, there's a good chance the price will actually go up or the hotel you like won't be available.'"
General Director of the travel agency "Chic Travel Kursk" Vladimir Konev:
"Early bookings are, as always, at their peak! Greece and Turkey are showing particularly strong results. Demand is higher than last year. I hope there won't be a collapse in travel and overbooking this year. I'll note that there's been a lack of demand for Russian resorts this year. Hotels' interest in direct travelers and luring them away from travel agencies likely played a role."
Director of UTA LLC (Tolyatti) Yulia Pisareva:
"I think one of the challenges this season could be flight delays during the 2018 FIFA World Cup. A large number of guests from different countries are expected, and it's difficult to imagine what will happen at airports during this period."
Commercial Director of the Travel Store, Alexander Preobrazhensky:
"Sales for this summer were going quite well, but we're currently seeing a number of negative factors that could adversely impact the season. These include currency fluctuations and politics. The turbulent global political situation is causing concern. However, we're optimistic that if charter flights to Egypt are launched this season, it will be a significant growth opportunity for the market."
Tour operators are pleased with the results of early summer tour bookings, but also highlight a number of potential risks.
At Tez Tour They believe that the main difficulties of the upcoming season may arise in the aviation sector.
"This could be due to increased airport congestion during the World Cup and program adjustments. Furthermore, peak travel dates in Europe will be challenging: there's already a shortage of hotel rooms in July and August. This is because Europeans will once again 'vote' for vacations in Europe." — explains PR Director tour operator Larisa Akhanova.
At TUI Russia They see the main difficulty that operators and agents are already facing as a shortage of space in popular hotels.
"Stop-sales are already starting to arrive from some hotels. This is due not only to increased demand from Russian tourists but also to increased activity in European markets," the company noted.
Source: trn-news.ru
