Tour operators do not count on an easy winter season

Tour operators do not hope that the winter season will go smoothly, since countries, popular among Russians, such as Thailand and Vietnam, do not plan to open in 2020, as Deputy General Director of Anex Tour Yana Muromova said.

“As for foreign tourism, there are fears that many Asian countries, for example, Vietnam and Thailand, are unlikely to be open this year. We know that Thailand, especially for the Siberian regions, is very popular destination, and for residents of the Moscow region this country is an alternative to Turkey. Of course, this will affect tourists and the tourism market as a whole,” Muromova said at an online press conference.

She noted that applications for the New Year's tours are received, but tourists are in no hurry to pay for trips, since most of the destinations are still closed. “Applications number is huge, but most of the destinations announced for the New Year are still closed, and tourists are in no hurry to pay,” Muromova said.

A similar situation was described by Vladimir Kaganer, deputy general director of the tour operator Tez Tour. “There are bookings for the New Year. The reservations are certainly not as active as a year ago, but we cannot say that they have completely stopped. People try to wait until the last moment with the purchase of these tours. Bookings in advance exist, but it is too early to say that we have a wave of applications,” he said.

Kaganer added that tourists are waiting for the development of events with the pandemic and the opening of borders, so "we cannot count on deep booking of tours."