Due to the escalation of the situation in the Middle East, some Ukrainian tourists have started canceling or postponing their trips. Most often, these are trips to exotic countries where flights passed through the countries of the region. Yulia Levchenko, a travel agent, told UNN journalist what alternative tourist companies offer and what tourists who have already booked tours should do.
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According to the travel agent, currently, about a tenth of clients are completely refusing to travel.
About 10% of tourists cancel their tours completely. If, for example, they have a sufficient amount of time, they cancel. As for bookings to the Emirates or exotic destinations where the flight was through Qatar or the Emirates, people either canceled or postponed the trip to other possible destinations.
Some tourists who cannot or do not want to fly to exotic countries change their vacation destination. Most often, Egypt becomes an alternative, if the tour operator's conditions allow it. In such cases, each situation is considered separately.
For example, such as Egypt, and in general, this is most often the case if the tour operator allows it. Everyone has their own rules and conditions, each situation is individual. Most tour operators behaved quite tolerantly, were in touch and supported both tourists and agents.
According to Yulia Levchenko, tourists most often refuse distant exotic destinations, because these are countries that require flights with transfers through the Middle East. These trips cause the most concern.
Most often, exotic destinations are canceled: Mauritius, Mexico, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Maldives. These are the destinations where there were transfers in the Middle East. Therefore, they are changed to other options.
At the same time, some tourists are worried even about trips to Egypt. However, according to the travel agent, the situation there remains stable for now. The only thing that can change is the time of charter flights.
Currently, the situation in Egypt, fortunately, is stable and unchanged. Tourists have been flying and continue to fly for vacation. The only thing that is possible is adjustments to the time of charter flights - this is the only nuance that is currently observed.
In addition, Yulia Levchenko says that travel companies offer alternative exotic destinations that are not related to flights through the Middle East. In particular, these are flights to Vietnam or, for example, China. Such trips are carried out by charter flights of tour operators and are no less exotic and interesting for Ukrainians.
If tourists want exoticism, we offer Phu Quoc Island in Vietnam or Hainan in China. These are charter flights of our tour operator. Therefore, if tourists were taken on vacation, the same flights take them back.
However, despite the interest in recreation, the number of new bookings for spring and summer has somewhat decreased. Tourists continue to be interested in destinations, but more often postpone the final decision. Many people decide to book trips closer to the vacation date.
The number of bookings has decreased. Tourists are interested in destinations, but choose the option of booking closer to the trip itself. They want to be more confident in the situation.
Also, according to Yulia, among the summer destinations, Ukrainians have become more interested in the Adriatic countries. These are Albania, Montenegro, and Croatia. Bulgaria also remains popular, especially for bus tours.
Recently, Albania, Montenegro, and Croatia have become popular. There is also active interest in bus tours to Bulgaria. And, of course, Egypt. It was, is, and will be a popular destination for recreation.