Informe semanal de noticias oficina de Turismo de Tenerife en Moscú
Aviation News
According to Ministry of Transportation, domestic flights to be resumed in June, and international flights are expected in July. Among the first destinations available for travel will be Bulgaria, Montenegro, and the Baltics.
Minister of Transportation conducted an inspection at Sheremetyevo International Airport, n of the Russian Federation Yevgeny Dietrich conducted an inspection at Sheremetyevo International Airport, the country’s largest aviation hub, on May 16 to determine the airport’s readiness to resume air operations with the safety measures necessary to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Sheremetyevo Airport has retained production resources for the prompt resumption of full-scale operational activities. The airdrome is fully prepared for the start of regular transportation with a capacity of 80 take-off and landing operations per hour, which is enough to ensure the predicted volume of passenger traffic. Special care is taken at Sheremetyevo to organize passenger traffic in ways that ensure the safety and health of customers, guests, and employees. The following significant measures have been put in place:
• Terminal F has been allocated for serving passengers arriving from countries with unfavorable epidemiological conditions.
• In the baggage claim hall of Terminal F, workplaces for medical personnel of the Moscow Department of Health, the Ministry of Health for Moscow Region, Rospotrebnadzor, and the Medical Unit of SVO JSC were set up.
• Two teams of the Territorial Center for Emergency Medicine for Moscow Region are constantly on duty at the airport.
• The terminals have isolation wards with a separate entrance from the platform, eliminating the possibility that healthy and infected passengers will come into contact with each other.
• Periodic checks of the operability of the ventilation system and continuous disinfection of all rooms are carried out.
• Automatic non-contact hand disinfectors are installed in the bathrooms of all airport terminals, and all sanitary devices are touch-sensitive and touch-free.
• Masks, gloves and antiseptics in pharmacies and vending machines are available for purchase.
• Testing of the SVO Group of companies’ personnel for COVID-19 is arranged in accordance with the requirements of the Chief State Sanitary Physician of the Russian Federation.
• Over 2,000,000 medical masks were purchased for the staff of the SVO Group of companies.
• The staff of the SVO Group of companies is provided with personal protective equipment (anti-plague suits, gloves, disinfectants, etc.) in sufficient quantities.
The airport separated flows of people at all stages of pre-flight and post-flight procedures:
• In technological areas where services are provided for passengers and personnel (check-in counters, entrance groups, pre-flight security checkpoints, boarding gates), there are markings on the floor to ensure social distancing of 1.5 meters.
• The airport regularly provides information to visitors through various communication channels about the rules of conduct at the airport during the pandemic. At full-scale thermometry system for passengers and personnel is in use:
• 23 thermal imaging cameras at the airport are used to identify potential patients with coronavirus infection.
• Before starting work, the staff undergoes mandatory measurement of body temperature in 10 specialized health centers.
• Body temperature measurements to be taken during the treatment of passengers and employees of the SVO Group of companies using stationary, portable thermo-vision cameras, as well as at the health centers of the terminals (both for passengers and staff) and the clinic of the Medical Unit of SVO JSC
Due to the reduction in the number of flights, S7 Airlines may reduce staff to optimize costs. «Unfortunately, in a situation with a significant reduction in the flight program, S7 Airlines is forced to work on efficient cost optimization, including considering staff reductions,» the press service said, without specifying how many employees could be subject to the reduction. The airline added that those employees who are ready to consider moving to another city will be able to transfer to S7 units in Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Vladivostok and Moscow. S7 is the second largest aviation group in the Russian Federation.
Travelers
Most Russians support the introduction of restrictive measures in hotels aimed at reducing the risk of coronavirus infection, says a survey conducted by the Biletix reservation service. The study was run on April 15-30 and 2124 people took part in it. 75% of Russian travelers surveyed agree with the strengthening of coronavirus containment measures used in hotels. However, only 45% of respondents agree to pay for the implementation of such conditions. 37% of the total number are ready to pay no more than 10% of the reservation price for the application of such measures, 5% are willing to pay no more than 30% and only 3% are ready to accept the price increase by one and a half times or more. But Russian travelers are not ready to accept the epidemiological restrictions on the beaches. 59% of respondents opposed the introduction of social distance on the beaches, and only 24% agreed to stay away from other sunbathers and swimmers. 16% have not yet decided on their attitude.
About 90% of Russian tourists, after lifting travel restrictions, would like to go on vacation abroad, while most of them are waiting for price increases for flights and hotels, a survey conducted by the NAFI analytical center showed. The study was conducted in the form of an online survey in April-May 2020. It was attended by 1,000 respondents aged 18 years and over who have traveled abroad for the past two years. “In the short-term period, 42% of respondents would like to spend summer vacations in Russia. However, after normalizing the epidemiological situation, most Russian tourists (88%) would prefer to travel abroad: 44% would go on vacation to Europe soon, 23% to Asia. Only 12% would choose a trip to Russia after opening borders.»
Older tourists are ready to go on a trip to Russia after normalizing the epidemiological situation (17% of respondents over 55 called Russia a priority destination for travel). But among young travelers (from 18 to 34 years old), Russia is an unpopular destination for travel (7%). They would prefer to go on vacation to the countries of Europe (42%) or Asia (25%). “Most tourists also expect higher prices for air and train tickets after the pandemic. According to respondents, tickets for airplanes (74%) rather than trains (62%) are more likely to grow. Russian hotels will also go up in price (72% of the vote) and foreign (56%), «the study said. «It is noteworthy that despite the depreciation of the ruble, tourists are more likely to expect higher prices for hotel accommodation in Russia, but not abroad. They expect that Russian tourist facilities will take more advantage of the situation of increased demand for vacations within the country than their foreign colleagues, and will return the revenue lost during the isolation period, including due to higher prices», commented Irina Ivankova, head of the Tourism and Transport research department at the NAFI analytical center.
Travel Industry
Russian tour operators resumed sales for Turkey and European destinations for the fall-winter of 20/21 and summer 2021 years. TEZ TOUR offers discounted tours to Turkey, Greece, Spain and Cyprus, Bulgaria and Italy. TUI offers package tours to Spain from 15 cities of Russia.
Outbound tour operators will also be able to issue tourists vouchers for postponed tours, following the recent amendments of the law adopted by the State Duma on Thursday, May 20th. The amendments allow tour operators in case of force majeure cancellation to issue a voucher for another trip at the same cost conditions to be used for postponed trip in the future.
State Duma adopted the bill in the first draft on May 12th due to mass cancellations of tours due to nCov.
Competitors
The Greek authorities announced a plan to restart the tourism. On Wednesday, The tourist season, according to the plan, will begin in June. As in most tourist destinations, at the first stage the tourism industry will work for domestic travelers. Year-round hotels will re-open in the country on June 1, and all the rest on June 15.
Greece plans to conduct coronavirus tests for arriving foreigners. The resumption of international flights is scheduled for mid-June 2020. From the 15th of June, international flights will fly only to Athens. The remaining cities of Greece will begin to receive international flights on July 1. And from July 15, a gradual lifting of all other remaining restrictions is planned.
At the same time, the national carrier Aegean Airlines has already announced plans to resume international flights. to the Baltic countries, Eastern Europe, as well as to UK and Germany. Flights to Russia are planned for July 2020
Turismo de Portugal announced that the hotels in the country will re-open on June 6, and the swimming season will begin at the same time. Portugal did not impose mandatory quarantine requirements upon arrival, except for the Madeira Island, so now country is waiting for all tourists who can leave their countries. However, there are islands that have established their own rules for visitors, for example, in the Azores it is necessary to present a health certificate or pass the COVID-19 test or stay in isolation for 14 days. The country’s Prime Minister Antonio Costa said that, in addition to the obligatory wearing of masks in public places, it will be necessary to comply with the rules of social distance, which will reduce the capacity of the beaches. At the same time, hotel guests will not have to look for a sun lounger, because it will be assigned to guests for the duration of their stay
Italy plans to open the border from June 3, while the mandatory two-week self-isolation for those entering the country will be canceled.
The Bali Island in Indonesia will open to foreign tourists in October, The Jakarta Post reports. «For the entire pandemic in Bali, only 371 cases of coronavirus were registered, four people died. This is a very low percentage compared to the rest of Indonesia, where 19 thousand cases of COVID-19 were recorded,» the publication notes. If Bali manages to maintain a favorable epidemiological situation, the authorities will be able to open the island to foreign tourists from October. «Tourism plays a very important role in the economy of Bali, 80% of the population depends on it. Now the Indonesian economy is suffering, only in March the number of arrivals of foreign tourists fell by 60% (from China – by 97%),» the newspaper writes
Destination News
There have been 317,554 cases of coronavirus infections reported in Russia so far and 3,099 deaths. Russia confirmed 8,849 new coronavirus infections Thursday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 317,554. Russia now has the world’s second-highest number of coronavirus infections. Moscow’s coronavirus death rate will be «significantly» higher in May than it was in April, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin warned.
On May 25, the Ministry of Economic Development will introduce a nationwide economic recovery plan until the end of 2021. The main indicators to achieve by the end of 2021 are a steady increase in real cash incomes of the population, reduction of unemployment to maximum 5%, and reaching sustainable GDP growth of at least 2.5% year on year.
The nominal GDP in April 2020 dropped by 28% compared to April 2019 and by 33% compared to March, as reported by the Ministry of Finance. According to the Ministry of Economic Development, in the second quarter of 2020, when many sectors of the Russian economy were essentially quarantined, the fall in GDP may be comparable to the crises of 1998 and 2008-2009. They expect a reduction in the economy of at least 9.5% compared to the second quarter of 2019.
Inflation equals to zero for the second week in a row. Consumer prices rose by 0.1% since the beginning of May, and by 2.2% – from the beginning of the year.
The dollar fell below ₽71 for the first time since March 10 partially due to the increase in oil prices. The ruble is also supported by sales of foreign currency earnings by Russian exporters, sales of foreign currency by the Central Bank and increased investor demand for Russian assets.
The RSBI index of business activity in April showed a sharp decline, reaching the lowest level since 2014, follows from the results of a monthly survey of entrepreneurs conducted by Promsvyazbank, Public Organization of Small and Medium-Sized Entrepreneurship and Magram Market Research Agency. The index fell to 38.5 points from 45 points in March, indicating a significant deterioration in business activity in the SME sector. The previous minimum value was recorded in 2014, yet it was five points higher than the April result of this year. Micro-enterprises suffered the most, among them 82% of respondents noted a sharp drop in revenue. In the sector of small and medium-sized businesses, the decline was reported by 74% and 75% enterprises, respectively.
Deputy Prime Minister reported that the number of registered unemployed reached 1 million 665 thousand people, that is 129.5% growth compared with the pre-pandemic period. Earlier, Russian Minister of Labor and Social Protection stated that unemployment will continue to grow further at the end of May and throughout June. The official unemployment may reach 2.5 million people and the informal unemployment – up to 5.3 million.
According to Sberbank report, the expenditures of the Russian population on goods and services in April decreased by 26.2% compared to the same month of the previous year. Retail trade turnover decreased by 13.2%, dropping to the level of 2016, and expenses for services by 57.7%, which is comparable with the values of 2007. Russians have reduced their expenses on the services of travel agencies by 97.9%, on hotel accommodation by 96.3% and on airline tickets by 94.9%.
GfK conducted a research asking the Russians where they would go as soon as the self-isolation regime is over, and they could move freely. One thousand interviews were conducted among the residents of the Russian cities with a population over 100 thousand people. Top 5 responses are on the graph.
