11/08/2019 17:01

Czechia at the height

[IMG=18020-3415] During the year of 2005 price growth for the packets to Czechia was 10–15%, as operators of that destination told BANKO reporter. In the season of 2004 a week excursion tour with dwelling at a 2* hotel cost about 350 euro, 400 euro with a 3* hotel, 600 euro with 4* hotel. At the moment the same programs cost 30–40 euro more. Experts connect that to cost rise for airplane fuel that influenced all travel destinations. ‘In the course of the year fuel cost rise was about 50 euro,’ says Elena Ermakova, Director General of Travelland company. ‘SO the price of tour packets increased as well.’ Nonetheless, as operators say, this season there was quite a substantial demand rise – about 20%. At the same time they mention the change in the time preference in travel. Speaking of the present, instead of a traditionally slack autumn one can see a steady and strong flow of tourists. ‘The depth of sales can’t but please us,’ says Ms. Ermakova. ‘The whole October is practically sold, and the month has just started’. Indeed, it is hard for experts to define clearly the reasons for this. ‘There is such a thing as a profitable destination,’ supposed Ludmila Kurbatova, director of Moscow representative office Czech Destinations company. ‘It winds up and down. Apparently, Czechia now is at the height of demand growth, which has been traced for two years now.’ In particular, interest towards excursion programs is growing. As a result, the assortment of such tours has grown. However, some experts think otherwise. ‘To my mind, supply forms demand, and not vice versa,’ says De Visu director Alexey Lebed. Opinions divided concerning tourists’ preferences in the hotel base. Some experts say their clients prefer to stay at 4* and 5* hotels. Others have a different point of view. ‘When buying group and excursion tours, our clients most often ask for 3* hotels,’ states Olga Shmeleva, director general of Vedi Tour Group. ‘But when ordering tours for medicinal resorts, they ask for a higher level sanatoriums’. By the way, there were practically no problems with confirming rooms in the hotels during all the seasons, as operators say. As to the transfer, at present Aeroflot and Czech Airlines have daily flights to Prague, four flights a week to Karlowy Vary , and starting from November 6th, KrasAir will rise one charter a week. It’s clear that for the New Year widening of flight programs is inevitable. But the experts aren’t ready yet to estimate the volume of additional transfer.