11/08/2019 16:17

Russian Tourists Are Not Afraid Of Earthquakes and Tsunamis

[IMG=20628-6417]In January – June 2006 the tourist flow to Indonesia decreased by 7,5% (2 million tourists) comparing to the same period of 2005, Reuters reported explaining such statistics by a range of natural disasters, in particular the earthquake in Jokjakarta and tsunami in Pangandaran, Java Island. Meanwhile, the natural disasters in Indonesia did not affect the tourist flow from Russia. Experts say that the majority of Russian tourists traveling to Indonesia prefer Bali located 1, 500 kilometres far from the suffered regions. Konstantin Malkov, General Director of ITM Group, commented: ‘yes, at the end of July after the tsunami there was demand stagnation, however, sales stabilized after several days’. Tour operators that specialize in Bali agreed that comparing to last year tourist flow to the island increased by 30-40%. Lubov Gulidova, the Head of the Exotic Countries of CAPITAL TOUR, said: ‘I think that it is the first case when the demand is so high in low season in Bali’. Furthermore, some tour operating companies could not forecast the growth of demand for Bali and took small blocks of seats on scheduled flights by Transaero and Singapore airlines operated once in two weeks and five times a week correspondingly. That resulted into shortage of flights to the destination. At the moment tours to Bali are booked for September. Ilona Kuzmina, General Director of a group of companies Puteshestvui!, said: ‘a weekly flight by Transaero could be a solution. At the moment we more or less cope with the tourist flow, but in high season the existing air traffic volume will not be enough’. Russian travel market players do not consider other Indonesian resorts to be worth being widely offered to Russian tourists – usually they are sold to individual tourists. Konstantin Malkov, explained: ‘In summer our clients prefer high quality beach resorts that are mainly located in Bali. Besides, prices are acceptable for the Russian market – starting from $1200 for a 12-day tour with a 5* accommodation.