The weakening of the ruble again led to a decline in demand for tours abroad

Tour operators say about reduced demand for tours due to devaluation of the ruble and the uncertainty of future courses, the press secretary of the Russian Union of Travel Industry Irina Tyurina reported to Interfax.

"Tour operators have noted that the reason is not only reducing the rate of the ruble against the dollar and the euro, but, above all, in constant change, which give to the tourists a feeling of uncertainty and insecurity. More recently, the course was 58 rubles to the dollar, and today it is 63 ruble, which is not easy to accept. The same situation is with flight tickets: for example, from 1 August, tickets in the Amadeus system are booked at the exchange rate of 65.5 rubles per dollar and 69 rubles per euro," she said.

According to her, an interest among tourists for New Year's tours also slowed down, people are waiting to see how the situation will develop.

At the same time, the number of companies do not consider falling demand as crucial. "There are bookings, from all regions. People are trying to book tours quickly, in order not to lose money," the General Director of "Old Town" company Elena Popova said. Vice-president of Pax tour company Maxim Lobanov said that the collapse did not happen, because people have become accustomed to course change, and those who had planned to travel, book tours anyhow.

"Those who took the decision about the trip in advance, have already booked and paid their tours. But of course, a lot will depend on the situation on the foreign exchange market," the director of theCruise Department of Bolero company Margarita Atasunts explained.

For the first time since March, on Monday morning, the dollar exceeded 63 rubles on the Moscow stock exchange. On Tuesday the Central Bank exchange rate was of 62.4677 rubles for $1 and 68.5770 rubles for EUR1.

In autumn and winter 2014-2015, ruble fell against the dollar and euro several times. On December 16, 2014 the ruble fell sharply by upgrading historic low: in the course of trading the euro reached $ 100, dollar above 80 rubles. Then many tour companies dealing with outgoing completely stopped working. Until March-April 2015 tours abroad sold poorly due to weak ruble. In April, due to the strengthening of the national currency the Russians again began to book tours abroad.