Recently, in a sports club, I heard a very tanned coach tell his interlocutor how he had a rest in Sochi. And as if apologizing for going not abroad, but to the Krasnodar Territory: “Well, where else to go? Have you seen the prices in Türkiye?
The cost of vacations in Turkey this summer is truly unaffordable. Prices are 50% or even 70% higher than last year. However, the Turks are understandable – they understood that even in winter the Russians will have nowhere to go in the summer: it rains in Asia, the weather is hot in the Middle East, and many do not want to mix with Europe. difficulties with visa, “bend” and expensive flight.
In what sense? Sochi and Türkiye. And the Turks have doubled the price tag.
Right, they miscalculated. Russian tourists love Turkey, but not for 300 thousand rubles in four stars for breakfast. And as it turns out, there is an alternative.
Do you know what is the most common situation in travel agencies right now? A client comes to Turkey looking for a tour, sees the prices, goes crazy (you should use a different word here but the law forbids it) and the travel agent says to him, “Would you like to go to the Maldives? ”.
Well, of course, who will give up on the Maldives? And then it turned out that in the summer Maldives is almost as expensive as Turkey, and sometimes even cheaper. This, of course, is not about offers in the category “bed on the 30th even without breakfast”, but about good, luxury hotels. And Maldivian hotels are usually cheaper than Turkish hotels.
Of course, although this is not common practice, a lot depends on the moment of call and data entry, but the trend was noted by professionals for the second summer.
Now you can buy a flight to the Maldives for ten days on a separate island of the category “4-5 stars” and a tour with a “full board” meal for two people for 400-450 thousand rubles. And now let’s look at the prices of “five” in Belek, which is considered a luxury resort on the Antalya coast of Turkey: tours for two people from 300 thousand rubles to infinity, but most offers are 450-650 thousand rubles for two for the same ten days. Of course there are cheaper ones as well, but it is very important to understand that this is not at the hotel level that wealthy Russian tourists are used to and for which – let’s be honest – they expect quite a bit of money.
And here many people understand: they will never rest during the season in the Maldives, because it is really expensive, but in the off-season – why not? But I will visit the Maldives, then I will say to my friends: “Where did you rest? “In the Maldives.” I agree, it sounds great.
I’ll make a reservation: we’re not talking about a luxury villa. But the truth is: the prices of luxury five-star hotels in Turkey have caught up with the modest Maldives hotels. But still Maldives!
I already hear the ire of seasoned travelers – how can you compare the Maldives, where summer is off-season, with Turkey, where August is the hottest? Believe me, the “off-season” in the Maldives are brief rains, the results of which disappear within ten minutes after they are over. And it doesn’t always rain. Look at the weather in Male for the next ten days – plus 30 and partly cloudy.
And by the way, as someone who has vacationed in the Maldives several times during the off-season, I responsibly declare: every day in the Maldives, even the rainiest, is much more pleasant than the sunniest in Moscow, Sochi. It was in the Crimea and everywhere else.
The situation is similar with Emirates. Yes, the weather is below 40 degrees and the hotels are half empty, but the discounts are 50-60%, even 80%. And planes from Russia to Dubai are flying in full. And no one is afraid of the heat. In addition, this can be solved: you leave the air-conditioned airport terminal, take an air-conditioned taxi and arrive at the hotel, where there are cooled pools and air-conditioned roads in the area. What else do you need? Shopping? I mean, they’re so cool at the malls that you want to buy a sweater…
The UAE has ceased to be just a winter destination for two years. And when everyone flies to or via Dubai, it’s not even about politics. Only the climate on the planet is changing, and tour operators are increasingly hearing complaints from customers that it is cold to swim in the Persian Gulf in winter.
I was also in Abu Dhabi in March. Yes, there is sun, but the water in the bay is cold: swimming is not fun. And now I can hardly understand how people relax there in January-February, when the temperature is ten degrees lower than in March.
Sri Lanka and Thailand are currently two more popular “backup” members of Turkey. And again I am indignant – what is Thailand, what is Sri Lanka? There it is poured like a bucket in the summer.
Agree, it may be raining in Phuket, but no one is talking about Phuket: for the summer we wipe it off the map, Pattaya, Krabi and Bangkok and Koh Chang. And we go to the west coast of the Gulf of Thailand – for example, to the city of Hua Hin or Koh Samui. There, only summer, there are the most seasons (weather forecast will help you again).
By the way, Hua Hin is usually the oldest resort in Thailand: a century ago, residents of the capital went on vacation here (180 km from Bangkok), and the SUMMER residence of the Thai kings is located in Hua Hin. I think the rulers know the weather in their country very well and they don’t choose a rainy place.
As for Sri Lanka, for the summer we forget about Hikkaduwa, Hambantota and other resorts in the south and southwest (you will really be flooded there) and memorize new words – Trincomalee and Pasikuda. These are two resorts in the northeast of the island, where the high season starts from late June and lasts until September. But despite the fact that prices rise here in the summer, a weekly tour in August-September can be bought for 150-200 thousand rubles for two people in four five-star hotels on the first line. In Turkey, now you still have to look for such prices …
Another fact that tour operators always talk about is that people look at the price on the site when searching for tours, forgetting that this is not the last digit. What initially looked like 217 thousand rubles in Cuba turns into 350 thousand rubles as a result. Wow growth – 50%!
In general, it’s time to broaden the horizon.
The author expresses his personal opinion, which may not coincide with the editors’ position.