Translated material
Let's go!
Change of orientation
The last crash with numerous human victims provoked a mass outflow of tourists from those areas where the only way to get to the place of rest is the plane. According to experts of the Russian Association of Travel Agencies (Rata), during a matter of days the market was reduced by 10-15%. Domestic tourists chose to abandon traveling to the New World and to the resorts of Turkey, Cyprus, Egypt. The flow of vacationers reoriented to Europe, where you can get by bus. All travel agencies surveyed by the newspaper celebrate at least a doubling of the number of tourists who want to travel by bus. Moreover, most customers this season are wealthy people who 'suddenly' wanted to look at the old Europe from the bus window. Last year, the bus was considered a transport for youth and active pensioners.
According to preliminary estimates, this year, 8% of all those who went abroad for rest will have to share. This has not happened since the beginning of the nineties. For example, last year this figure was almost half as much. Moreover, by the end of this year, he will most likely still increase. Some of the Russians whose vacation plans were destroyed by a natural disaster in the south of Russia decided to choose economical bus tours in Europe.
'Diversity' of the species
The administrator of the Turkizov Turkin Turkish Domen says that such a thing, like seasonality, does not exist in bus tourism - just every July -August is 15% more expensive at once, and it does not make sense to look for “hot” sentences.
As a rule, the cost of the trip, which the tour operator, and railway tickets decides, is not included in the price of the trip. Sometimes these expenses can significantly affect the price of the tour. For example, a compartment to Berlin costs $ 170, to Brest - $ 45, $ 50 to Chop and Minsk.
To date, 12 companies are engaged in bus tourism in Moscow. All of them offer mainly 'economical' or 'luxury' individual tours. However, even the most expensive bus trip will cost 20-30% cheaper than a similar tour with a flight. The average price segment is formed by a combination of the first two - the demand for them is not very large.
An economical tour involves the placement of tourists in hotels of class 2-3 stars, has several night crossings, as well as an intensive excursion program.
According to Artem Kozlovsky, marketing director of InterS, such tours are very popular among students, state employees from regions and caring grandmothers who want to show the world to their grandchildren. The middle class and the Moscow intelligentsia prefer 'standard tours', in which the tourist has more free time and he should not constantly rush.
An economical tour, as a rule, involves departure from Moscow. True, for the cheapness you have to pay for days the exhausting trip to the border along Russian and Belarusian roads.
Alexander Ermolaev from Ankora notes that the combined tours have been very popular for the past few years: the client gets to the European city, for example, to Berlin, by train, and then transferred to the bus. Such vouchers usually exclude the possibility of night crossings and involve the living in hotels in a class of 3-5 stars.
Another combination option is to alternate excursion programs and rest at sea. For example, according to Artem Kozlovsky, this season almost all those who travel want to see Paris and buy on the French coast.
Hotel on wheels
Almost the most important point when buying a bus tour is the choice of a brand and a vehicle class. After all, in this house on wheels you will have to spend a lot of hours. In the early nineties, the citizens of the former USSR torn abroad did not care what to get to, just to leave. Fortunately, these days, Ikarus and 'Laz' are not used for long trips, without a toilet and air conditioning, are not used. On the routes there are buses of a generally accepted tourist class. Most of the bus fleet of domestic travel agencies consists of NEOPLAN, Mercedes or Setra cars. Scania is much less common, but it is said to be better not to ride. The worst buses are at the 'Belarusian firms', but such tours are also much cheaper.
In Europe, TURURETOBUES on international flights are ranking the stars like hotels. There should be a coffee maker, mini -bar, a refrigerator, a toilet, and the distance between the seats should be at least 77 cm. A bus with a mini -curle, a toilet and air conditioning can apply for four stars, the distance between the seats is 83 cm. A five -star bus differs from an anatomical chairs, a meter distance between the rows of seats and an individual TV. for each passenger. In the park of most Russian travel agencies, there are no such “sophisticated” buses.
Regardless of the number of stars, buses are one-, two- and three-story.
Short dashes
With the intersection of the Belarusian border, international rules for the movement of tourist buses enter into force. They prohibit night distillations and oblige drivers to defend buses for 8-9 hours every day of the journey.
In the afternoon, while driving on long stop routes, only once every 4 hours. So lovers of tobacco will have to tolerate, as smoking in buses is prohibited. A similar situation with alcohol. Although on some special -masshruts, for example, at the Bavarian beer festival, exceptions are made.
We also note that the choice of neighbors is of great importance in the closed space of the bus. Not every student will want to sit with a talkative grandmother, and a family with young children is among a noisy youth company.
REFERENCE
On the second half of August, tour operators are advised to go with his family to the Cote d'Azur (there the sea has not cooled yet), and the youth in Amsterdam.
A two-week tour with a visit to Paris, Barcelona and a vacation in Costa Brava will cost $ 470. The most hardy and prudent in 16 days can see Dresden, Salzburg, Venice, San Marino, Florence, Monaco, Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and relax for 4 days on the azure bank of France, in Nice, paying only $ 550 for it. At the same time, the cheapest tour only on Paris by plane will cost $ 400.
Tours to Scandinavia are popular in autumn. A visit to Helsinki, Stockholm, Oslo and Copenhagen will cost $ 315. It is better to buy vouchers to Northern Europe in St. Petersburg, where with the same program they can cost 10% cheaper than that of the capital's tour operators.
08/15/2002 / Ivan Golunov