During the last 2 months, you could observe the worsening of the situation, when you had to constantly communicate with both airlines and tourists, but in the last 2-4 weeks, a relatively better situation has been observed, much more peaceful, and the number of dissatisfied tourists has also decreased.
There is a lot of talk about overcrowded hotels in resorts, the increase in hotel prices – how does this affect the offer?
Our price consists of three main factors – hotel, flight and transfer. Of course, flight costs make up the largest share of expenses, but the increase in hotel prices has also affected the overall travel prices. In this regard, we cannot fail to mention countries such as Greece and Bulgaria, where the prices for these services have increased significantly. Currently, we do not see a significant increase in demand from Latvia to, for example, Greece, but the influx of tourists to this country can be observed from other European countries. German tourists are very fond of Greece, Italians also go there, so it is understandable that Greece can afford to raise prices because they have enough tourists. Hotels are congested, the streets are full of tourists and everything is happening.
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What are the most popular destinations among Latvian travelers at the moment? Maybe there are some destinations that have become popular recently, what is it all about?
The trend right now is price. Often a person comes to our office, wants to buy a trip, starts talking to a consultant. He has a vision in his head, for example, he intends to go to Greece, but at the same time he is wondering if there are other options. And when our travel consultant tells us, the choice is often made in favor of Turkey, because for the same price you can stay in a better hotel in this country and get a wider range of services. Turkey may not be the destination that European residents go to so often, more European tourists definitely go to Greece, but a visit to Turkey is much more profitable from Latvia. It is very interesting that the prices of hotels in Bulgaria have also increased significantly this year, despite the fact that the tourism offer in the country has not changed much. It is often observed that people only buy flight tickets to Bulgaria, and not the full offer, which is explained by the fact that many people in Bulgaria have their own apartments or acquaintances have property that can be rented. For example, there was a sharp jump in demand for plane tickets to Bulgaria in June.
To what extent are you currently experiencing cost increases? In which segments have costs grown the fastest? Maybe you can provide some comparison of travel costs before the pandemic and now? What are the forecasts for how much the cost of travel could increase in the near future?
Compared to 2019, the average price of the trip has increased by 15-20%. Of course, the price varies by destination – for a trip to Turkey, the price increase is lower, for Greece – higher. However, you should be aware that in the past you could run somewhere “on the cheap” – for 300 euros, but now it is not realistic to fit in this amount. If someone offers a trip for 300 euros, then there is something suspicious lurking underneath. If in 2019 one more person could be offered a trip for 500 euros, now there are almost no offers for this amount either. A somewhat normal travel package can be purchased starting from 700 euros. Of course, you can find trips for even 400 euros in last-minute offers, but they are limited and when you buy at the last minute, it is impossible to plan a trip in time.
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