Russian Tourists May Turnaround Tsunami Economies

by Kester Kenn Klomegah
 

(IPS) MOSCOW -- The long and cold winter might be of some help to tsunami victims as Russians head south to Asia to revive themselves and the economies of their destinations.

Tourism agencies are feverishly booking cheap hotel rooms and air tickets for thousands of Russian vacationers, and southeast Asian countries are working hard to welcome them. Countries such as India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Thailand are speeding up the processing of tourist visas.

Thousands of Russians are looking for warmth particularly in areas hit by the tsunami, travel operators say.

"The demand for destinations, especially Thailand is as high as last summer. Russians with good income are fed up of traveling to European countries and are now redirecting their holiday interests toward southeast Asia," Ultra Travel director Mikhail Murayev told IPS.

It is not just warmth, though, that is taking Russians to the tsunami areas. "For some people it's an experience to witness such horrible disasters, to feel the catastrophe to the extreme just like extreme sporting activities," Murayev said. "A Russian tourist doesn't believe there's danger until a wave hits his head and kills him."

Ultra Travel's tour packages to tsunami-hit destinations average $1,500 per person.

A coalition of Indian tourism agencies has kicked off a marketing campaign that stops short, however, of advertising the tsunami disaster.

An Indian embassy spokesman said about 50,000 Russians visited India in May, compared to about 40,000 for in May last year.

"Russian tourists have been growing over the past few years," he told IPS. The embassy's goal is to capture what he says is a market of some 25 million potential tourists who would like to travel to India. "Why can't we help them take the trip?" he asked.

National Agency for Tourism Development director Svetlana Tarabrina believes that the level will not drop as many had thought. "Our market study so far has revealed that the levels are rising above that of last year," she told IPS. Attractively priced vacations tempt thrifty Russians to ignore travel warnings, she said.

Tarabrina said her agency recorded a 30 percent growth in travel to Thailand in 2004, and this year it will increase judging by the bookings for the summer.

Tourism is vital to most countries hardest hit by the disaster, but particularly to Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. The authorities in these countries have complained that foreign government travel advisories are hurting tourism. But several tourism centers in the tsunami-hit regions remain intact and open to visitors.

Several thousands of Russian tourists are now on vacation in Thailand, the official representative of the Thailand Tourism Department in Russia Konstantin Kinel told IPS. "There are about ten flights from various regions of Russia to Pattaya each week. There are also six weekly flights of Aeroflot to Bangkok," he said.

"Plenty of resorts in that country are intact. These are the island of Samui near the western coast of the Siam Bay, Pattaya on the eastern coast of the Bay, the island of Chang near the eastern coast, and the resorts of Cha am and Hua Hin," he said.

As far back as February the Thailand Tourism Department organized a trip for Russian journalists to Phuket, which was hit hard by the tidal wave disaster in late December. "The Phuket infrastructure is running at nearly full capacity since March," Kinel said.

"When you're in the bars there you almost forget that the tsunami happened. It's only when you go down to the beach that you see the damage," said Lidiya Gretchinikova of Garant company who spent two weeks in May touring southeast Asian countries.

But some tourists are rushing in because others will not go. "Many tourists have come because the hotels are cheaper, and they are interested in just spending their saving on excursions and in the restaurants and shops," she said.