[IMG=18263-3744]
On the 6th of November Mikhail Kamyinin, official representative of the Ministry of foreign affairs, published a letter of warning. It says that in France acts of vandalism continue (see news as of 3rd of November) and their geography widens, so Russian citizens present in dangerous regions should be more careful and aware of their surroundings. He also states that they should follow the instructions of local authorities and travel agencies. As BANKO discovered, apart from suburbs of Paris, there is a danger in regions of Marseille, Dijon, Roane, Toulouse and Strasburg.
Meanwhile experts’ opinions about the influence of the unrest differ. Some believe that disorder will not affect the usual work of operators. ‘Our tourists almost do not notice any signs of disorder. Although guides, considering the situation, warn them to be careful and advise them not to go out at night’, - says Artyom Kozlovskiy, managing director of ‘Inters’, specializing in bus tours. According to Kozlovskiy, there are now about 200 clients of his company in Paris. Marseille and Cote-D’Azur and as yet there have been no complains. Irina Mashtakova, deputy director of ‘Tourtrance-voyage’ believes that the situation is blown out of proportion. ‘During these events our group was in the suburbs of Bobenoe, to the east of Paris. We immediately got in touch with the hotel and they confirmed that everything was fine and the administration ensures the safety and there is no need to resettle clients’. There are 250 tourists of the company in Paris.
Other players still note the reduced demand. ‘Interest to excursion tours is lower by several times’, comments Yulia Kulyisheva, director of French department of ‘Ascent travel’. Some operators verify the cases when tours were canceled. ‘Sales were not stopped but there are already 3 cancellations in the near future to Paris’, says Irina Gordeeva, deputy director of European department of ‘Capital tour’. At the moment the company’s management did not decide on whether to return money to clients or reroute them to other destinations. ‘Anchor’ told a BANKO correspondent” ‘One of our groups were on the 2-3 of November in Saint-Denis. While tourists were walking to the hotel, hooligans pulled bags with money and documents from the hands of two women. The next day the holiday-makers had to move to a hotel in a safer place’, says Yulia Orekhova. According to her, victims received papers from the Russian Consulate confirming the loss of documents so that they could leave the country. However the company now substitutes the French program by the German tour which starts on the 12th of November. Experts refrain from providing further prognoses.
