The results of the first months of the new year and forecasts for the future are discouraging for travel agencies, but favorable for tourists who remain afloat. The crisis acts as a forest sanitizer: it 'eats' the weakest and most unreliable firms that could deceive (and did deceive!) honest citizens. Those that remain can be trusted. They, strong and reliable, do their utmost to make tours cheaper and even ask for help from their foreign partners. This primarily concerns those countries where the tourist season is currently underway and prices have automatically increased.
TO MAKE THE CABBAGE SOUP THICKER
Tourists, like all other people, fall into two categories: those with small diamonds and those with thin cabbage soup. Everyone can save, and equally successfully: some on hundreds and thousands of dollars, others on tens and units. Such is the law: the more a tourist pays on a trip, the greater discounts they can expect. Most often, the most expensive hotels and airlines announce discounts. One simple example. Villa 'Bolt House' in Jamaica can be rented for $9,000 per week in winter, and from April 15 it is rented for only $5,000. The direct saving is $4,000.
The best way to save on a tourist trip is not to go anywhere at all. If this method is unacceptable for some reason, you'll have to play the numbers game. But each time, when calculating options, you need to think carefully: is it worth saving $20 if you get a lot of inconvenience in return?
And you also need to remember that there are no universal recipes for saving, because not only in each country, but also in each trip there are its own peculiarities.
The third universal rule: in order not to overpay, you need to get as much information as possible. No one keeps their tariffs and discounts a secret; it's only important to find out about them in time.
WHERE SHOULD THE POOR WANDERER GO
The simplest but also the most significant type of saving is total saving on the tour. And the main thing here is to choose the right country. There are countries where holidays are always cheap – for example, Turkey or Egypt. But in any country there is also such a concept as the tourist season. When it ends, prices for everything automatically drop, and the streets, embankments, squares, and museums you so wanted to visit remain. Many choose the off-season without any thought of saving – it's much more pleasant to stroll through pleasant places when there is no noisy crowd sweeping everything in its path. Moreover, in cool weather, walks and excursions in Greece, Italy, Spain, and other good countries where it is very hot in summer are better.
...Once in July, our excursion group was exploring Rome. Wherever the bus stopped – at the Colosseum or the Pantheon – tourists first rushed to buy water and ice cream, and only then paid attention to everything else. In the afternoon, we arrived in Tivoli. Seeing the fountains in the park, our people, ignoring the guide's desperate shouts, jumped into the water fully clothed. The guide, a young girl, sat down on a bench and cried from fear, and the park attendants were simply stunned by such audacity. Fortunately, it all ended without fines.
In most European seaside countries that live by the beach schedule, the season ends in October and begins in May. So now is the height of winter discounts in Spain, Italy, Greece, Croatia, and other countries. Meanwhile, the sea there still smells like the sea, eucalyptus trees are lush green, and roses are blooming. The velvet swimming season continued until December in Tunisia, where it will soon be much better than in summer. After all, autumn and spring are the only times when you can safely venture into the Sahara and generally see this hot country. In Tunisia, prices have been reduced since October 1.
'Cheap' countries become even cheaper in the off-season.
Now the picture looks roughly like this. The 'cheapest' country remains Turkey, where discounts have also come into effect. Slightly higher are prices for Egypt, despite the fact that the season there is in full swing. Cyprus is now significantly cheaper than in summer. The UAE has inflated prices – the season there is in full swing.
As for Spain, holidays on different coasts cost differently. The most expensive but also the warmest coast is Costa del Sol in Andalusia. The cheapest is Costa Brava in Catalonia. Moreover, you can travel around the entire coast on a very cheap electric train, exploring year-round Barcelona and Girona. The 'Port Aventura' park, to the delight of parents, is already closed.
Good weather lasts a long time in Croatia, where summer tours are not cheap. Swimming is no longer possible there, but you can enjoy the views and clean air. And Dubrovnik is beautiful at any time of year.
Holidays in Italy have hardly become cheaper because summer charters have stopped flying. So it makes sense to go on sightseeing tours, which are always more expensive by definition. Now they have just become cheaper.
FOR WHOM LIFE WITHOUT THE COLOSSEUM IS NOT SWEET
Of course, if a person wants to see Italy, it is useless to persuade them to relax in Turkey. But even within one country, options are possible. You need to take more advertisements and conduct a thorough analysis, that is, choose the right travel agency. The price spread among different agencies is usually very large.
Now is the best time to look for cheap offers: tour operators have booked hotels and planes, but there are very few clients, so many agencies sell their tours at cost and even cheaper – just to avoid letting down partners. When browsing ads, you need to pay attention to the cherished words: last-minute tours, seasonal discounts, special offers, sales. Our market has never seen such a number of discounted tours!
The cheapest trips are shopping tours. They are often offered with good accommodation, excursions, and leisure. This is a great temptation for tourists who need all the components of such trips except visiting warehouses and packing bales. So let's tempt fate! Let's call travel agencies and ask if there are any free spots left in the shopping group. The only indispensable condition is that you need to honestly admit that you will not be buying 20 kilograms of fur coats, but will buy only two – if you like them. Or two handbags, or a pair of boots. That is, that you are not a shopper but an ordinary tourist. The cheapness does not come out of thin air: agencies can offer such a low price because they receive a percentage of the trade turnover of their clients. But if tickets and hotels are already booked, the agency will reluctantly sell you a shopping tour. And while the whole group is inspecting warehouses and factories, you will have time to enjoy the beauties of Venices and Milans.
Also read related material: WHAT A TOURIST CAN SAVE ON
'Zagranitsa' No. 1, 1999