The USdiplomatic mission in Russia
claims it has issued a record-breaking number of visas to Russian citizens; the
consular service handed out 23% more tourist and business visas in 2012 compared
to the previous year. The Director General of America Travel and the Head of Visit
USA Russia Ms. Margarita Babayan associates such an active growth with the facilitation
of visa formalities for Russians. You will recall that since recently, the maximum
validity period for a US
visa has been increased from two to three years; plus the visa got cheaper. Besides
that, a range of new flights has been introduced between our countries. For one,
Aeroflot commenced scheduled flights to Miami.
Along with that, Transaero resumed its services to Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, tour operators dealing with
the USA
can't brag about comparable sales so far. According to the Director General of the
American Travel Company Ms. Elena Goubareva, the previous year brought a growth
of just 15%. The market players admit that a good share of the tourist flow is made
up of individual tourists, especially as American online booking market is completely
available. Yet, the experts still see no reasons for pessimism.
"To fill a "shopping cart"
with desired services, the Russians still come to professionals, since the internet
simply can't offer them interesting sightseeing itineraries, translation services,
cruises and so on", explains Margarita Babayan. She also points out that even
despite its success, the USA
still remains quite an unfamiliar destinations for Russian tourists. At year-end
2011, the American Consulate issued 221 thousand visas. Based on the said 23% growth,
it's not difficult to count up the total number of entry permits handed out in 2012,
which is to draw near 280 thousand. At that, amid growing interest towards the destination,
more and more agents are coming to sell the US tour products. "In a situation
like this, quality and uniqueness of products becomes the prime advantage, affecting
customers' final decision", Ms. Babayan concluded.
Tour operators promise to sum up current
winter season by early March. As they have been observing, luxury vacations are
mostly in demand. Among the best-sellers are tours around the US East and West coasts.
As for skiing destinations, quite a head start was shown by the Mammoth Lakes
resort in California,
for the first time introduced to Russian travelers at the 19th Moscow
International Ski Salon last autumn. Whereas the greatest number of Russian tourists
was recorded in Aspen
– the resort they had already come to know pretty well.
The experts paid extra attention to the
depth of sales. This winter, claims Elena Goubareva, they are having bookings for
as far as the next New Year, while a couple of years ago, the sales didn't go deeper
than three or four months. Moreover, the 2013 price tag for US-bound itineraries
hasn't really changed since the previous season.
