Costa Dorada seeks Irish tourists instead of Russians

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In the small mall on La Pineda beach, very close to Salou, signs in Russian compete with those written in English and Spanish. Advertisements for a medical center, a rental car company, and several restaurants in Cyrillic.. “We can’t change the image of the restaurant, but we thought about changing the sign. We finally stopped because it cost a lot of money and besides, there are too many Russian signs in the building,” says Vitaly. , a member of one of the places where Russian food is served.

The invasion of Ukraine put the finishing touch on a decades-old paradise between Russia and the Costa Dorada coastline. A very careful relationship for years on the Catalan side, as evidenced by the fact that in 2019 the share of Russian overnight stays in this region reached 19%. “Third Market”Summarizes Jaume Orteu, head of Costa Dorada’s hotels association and owner of a hotel group with a significant Russian tourist weight.

After the pandemic that caused a severe drop in visitors, tourism businesses in the region were hoping to recover some of the Russian market this year. They were still considering how to overcome the disadvantage, which is the percentage of the population. Infused with Sputnik, not approved by the European Medicines Agency and when war breaks out he won’t have access to his covid passport.

Thus, the projections for 2022 were already quite restrictive before Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine: In the whole of Spain, reservations for this year were so far limited to 168,000 Russian passengers, 85% less than planned in 2019 But the war has been specifically confirmed. The sector that should look for an alternative in Costa Dorada. “We didn’t have much hope anymore because of the Sputnik vaccine, but Adding war to this, we saw that there was no possibility.‘, Orteu assures.

Polish and Ukrainian market

Russian tourists often left a lot of money on their trips. “The worst thing was that we were the leader of Spain in that market and it hurt to lose an important market. A lot of work was done, the tourists kept coming. The Polish market started to work just this year and also the Ukrainian: a tour operator already wanted to go to Reus airport“, complains Xavier Guardià, president of the Hospitality and Tourism Management Federation of Tarragona state.

A glance at the newspaper library confirms how much Catalan institutions are interested in the Russian market. In 2011, when the arrival of tourists from that country began to expand in full, a gala was held in Port Aventura to recognize the “great contribution of Russian citizens to the tourism sector of the Tarragona coast”. During this action and in the presence of representatives of the various tour operators in the country, the then President of the Generalitat, Artur Mas awarded the Russian Ambassador Alexander Kuznetsov. Underlining the “business-friendly” profile of his Government at the time, Mas said that attracting passengers from that country at the gala was an “example of success”.

Besieged by the head of the Generalitat and the head of the Tarragona Provincial Council, the Russian ambassador Aleksandr Kuznetsov. A representation of Russian tour operators in the background. Tarragona Provincial Council.

Vitaly confirms that this relationship is long-lasting. “I’ve been here for 20 years and my wife and I have always worked with Russian tourism,” says this small hotelier from La Pineda. Another example: his restaurant is called Uncle Seriozha, but that’s a rough translation because only introduced with Cyrillic characters. “Right now, normal people aren’t afraid to go to a Russian restaurant,” he adds. Although it hasn’t opened this season yet –hoping to open on May 1st, it has already received many calls to book.

Government and Generalitat shock plan

The government, the Generalitat and affected municipalities acted quickly. Turespaña, the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, the Catalan Tourism Agency and several mayors in the region have been holding meetings for weeks to examine how this decline in Russian tourism can be mitigated. Two weeks ago, among other measures, Identifies markets that can replace visitors who stop coming to Costa Dorada.

In particular, six countries of origin were chosen: France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland, Belgium and the Netherlands. The first two are the main traditional markets in the region. As for Ireland, businessmen in the region expect a lot from it: already Represents 7.5% of overnight stays on this coast of Tarragona.

Guardià argues that “Irish people travel a lot and have similar tastes and traditions to British tourism”, which remains the first market on the Costa Dorada with 30% of overnight stays. It also helps that Ryanair is an Irish airline with direct flights to Reus.

They give figures from the Ministry of Tourism showing that the plan is working. For example: Reus airport has 15% more international passengers between April 4 and 24 – in and around Easter – than in 2019, when Russian tourism has not yet evaporated.

We were no longer expecting Russian tourists as the vaccine was not recognized in 2022Minister of State for Tourism, Fernando Valdés, said after his visit last Wednesday, and we hope that in the future the participation of this market in terms of overnight stays will be replaced by others such as the British, Irish and even Dutch. It also becomes the protagonist of promotional campaigns in the markets.

The mayor of Salou, Pere Granados, is also putting his hopes in Irish tourism, among others. “It’s a small market but we’re getting a very good response”, it protects. As small as the island’s population, the population barely reaches five million, compared to almost 150 million in Russia.

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