Igor Anatolyevich GOLUBAKHA, president of the travel company "GAMALIA":
- Undoubtedly, the military actions in Iraq have hit the tourism business very hard. For example, recently, instead of four charter flights to Egypt, only two flew. Many of our clients cancelled their orders. We understood this and did not fine anyone. At present, everyone is anxiously awaiting the development of military actions and wishes for their speedy end. I think the May holidays - the "first swallow" of the summer season - will show people's reaction to world events. We will see how we should make plans for the summer.
Of course, holidays in Europe will still be in demand. The same applies to Crimea - for us this is one of the priority destinations. And it will be successful, we have no doubt about that. In anticipation of military actions, we prepared quite seriously for the current summer: we booked many bases in Crimea, Bulgaria, Greece, Spain, Croatia, Turkey, Cyprus, Egypt, and Tunisia. As for pricing policy, I think we can even expect some price reduction for Crimea. Recently, the Ukrainian parliament abolished the hotel tax, which amounted to 2 to 20%. Accordingly, the prices of tours may decrease. It seems to me that there is no point in raising prices for Crimea or any other destinations. Any military actions, any upheavals in the world cause tension and distrust among potential tourist clients. And I think many of my colleagues will support me in that it is unreasonable to impose an even higher price on a person at a moment of doubt.
Everyone will have pleasant surprises, particularly regarding Turkey, where travel companies are preparing many interesting things. By the way, due to the entry into the Ukrainian tourism market of large Turkish-Russian firms, a rather complicated situation has developed with Turkey. However, now that many major Ukrainian tour operators have united into an association, there is an opportunity to influence the situation. This is the first public organization created by the travel companies themselves. It was founded by more than thirty Ukrainian firms. Among them are both Kyiv tour operators and representatives of the regions. We held negotiations both with the large tour operators with whom we united and with airlines. We asked them to give us priority in ordering charter flights over Turkish-Russian travel firms. And many met us halfway. We plan to meet with those Turkish firms that are entering the market. The goal is simple - so that the tourism market lives and develops in a civilized manner.
Sergey Petrovich DUDKA, president of the travel company "SAM":
We are all anxiously watching the development of military actions in Iraq. This is a painful issue both from a purely human point of view and from the point of view of specialists involved in the tourism business. Of course, the influence of the political situation on the summer season is still an open question. But from today's situation it is already obvious that charter flights to Egypt are underloaded. Of the six Kyiv flights, one has already been cancelled, and I think we should expect one or even two more to be cancelled. Although Egypt is far away, nevertheless, people have a psychological fear.
However, we are all making plans for the summer and preparing for the upcoming season. This year, draft laws were submitted to the Ukrainian parliament that promise to promote the development of the tourism business. A positive decision has already been made on some of them. Firstly, the hotel tax has finally been abolished. I consider this a great achievement - many professionals in the tourism and hotel business actively contributed to this decision. I believe vacationers will also feel it: most likely, hoteliers will reduce the cost of accommodation, which will reduce the total cost of the tour package.
The Crimean parliament has adopted a number of regulations governing the activities of the so-called small hotels. This will allow small hotels in Crimea to conduct their business openly, which, accordingly, will clarify the pricing policy. And the abolition of the hotel tax and the exemption of a number of Crimean sanatoriums from VAT gives hope for a reduction in prices that were unjustifiably inflated last year.
However, the most important document currently being considered by our legislative bodies is the new law "On Tourism". Its main goal is to bring the legal framework of the tourism industry in Ukraine into line with the 6th EU directive on tourism development, to make it more adapted to similar laws of developed European countries. And also to define the terms of the tourism business.
Well, now a few words about what we are going to please our clients with in the new summer season. We have prepared the "magnificent seven": Crimea, Bulgaria, Turkey, Tunisia, Spain, Cyprus, Croatia. Of course, Turkey will remain one of the most popular destinations. This year, out of the total tourist flow, we plan to send more than 4 thousand tourists there for holidays. Currently, Turkey is already beginning to feel a certain shortage of Western tourists, and, of course, the eyes of Turkish partners are turned to the Russian and Ukrainian markets. By the way, this year a very serious entry of large Turkish tour operators into our market is expected. And if there is no serious legislative protection against dumping, the position of domestic tour operators may become very complicated. In any case, in Russia a couple of years ago such a situation occurred; Russian colleagues did not react in time, and now several Turkish firms completely control this market.
But our main highlight this year will be exactly Crimea. This is no accident. Crimea is an absolutely unique place for recreation in terms of nature and climate. By the way, at the tourist exhibition on April 2 we will give an extensive presentation on Crimea. We offer about 50 bases. There are also exclusive offers - for example, our hotel "Yalta-Intourist", which is located a bit away from Yalta itself. There the sea is amazingly clean, a wonderful beach, no city bustle and crowds. And our new item is the "Aivazovsky" holiday home in Partenit, which is located at the foot of Ayu-Dag, surrounded by a shady park. Currently, this holiday home is our property, and we guarantee our clients a wonderful rest and a high level of service. Well, if you want to get to know our Crimea better - come to the tourist exhibition.
I really want to believe that the situation in our troubled world will stabilize. Life goes on as usual, and we all need to live and work. And rest!