Important things in tourism this week: flight cancellations in the U.S., the volatility of Thailand, cruises to Egypt
The main newsmaker at the end of the New Year vacations was Thailand. The authorities of the country first toughened the rules of entry, and then suddenly changed their minds. China has finally opened partially, though not for tourists, but tourists can already buy tours. In Turkey, the residence tax began to operate, but so far, according to experts, it is not really required. In the U.S. there was a major airline crash. About the most important things in tourism this week is in the digest of RIA Novosti.
Thailand over the weekend seriously alarmed the tourist market. Authorities and airlines of the Kingdom decided to begin checking vaccination certificates against Covid for foreigners arriving on January 9. Travelers themselves immediately took reciprocal measures: after the news about the new rules of entry tourists cancelled over a thousand hotel reservations. As a result, both Thai authorities and airlines said that the requirement for passengers to have certificates of vaccination against coronavirus, certificates or PCR-tests were canceled.
Against this background, other countries, known as excellent winter beach destinations, immediately announced that they did not plan to tighten anything. The embassies of Sri Lanka and Malaysia told RIA Novosti that the countries are not going to impose additional restrictions on entry because of COVID-19. Indonesia is also not changing the rules.
China has finally opened up. As of Jan. 8, the country completely lifted quarantine and PCR testing for those arriving from abroad. But travelers are not affected by this yet; tourist visas are not issued. However, trips to China are already on the market, land borders are opening, new flights appear, and the date of resumption of visa-free travel from Primorye has been named.
In Turkey, since the new year a two percent lodging tax is in effect. However, according to ATOR, in the first days of this year there were no cases of collecting a fee for check-in at hotels in Turkey.
This is not the only country with new taxes for tourists. So, a new fee of 68 Mexican pesos (about $ 3.58) per room per night appeared in Cancun and Riviera Maya hotels in Mexico on January 1, 2023. A similar tax has been introduced in Uzbekistan: the amount – from two to four dollars per person per day – depends on the number of rooms in the hotel.
Croatia has joined Schengen area. Tourists will have to collect expanded documents for a visa, Biometrics and pay 114 euros per person (this amount includes consular, service and logistics fees).
Already appeared first annual statistics. In 2022 6.5 million guests visited the Crimea. In addition the Russians were the leaders on the tourist flow to Turkish Antalya. In 2022 this resort was chosen more than three million guests from our country. Russians also actively go to Sri Lanka and Israel.
Soon Russian tourists may expect an interesting novelty – cruises from Sochi to Egypt. Such cruises are planned to be launched by Miray Cruises company which operates Astoria Grande liner. It is the only Russian company that carries out sea cruises abroad.
On Wednesday, January 11, there was a large-scale malfunction in the pilot warning system in the airline industry in the United States. It led to the cancellation and postponement of more than 10 thousand flights.
And in Russia, as reminded by the Ministry of Transport of Russia, there are still restrictions on the work of 11 airports in the south and central parts of the country.
