82% of Russians choosing sea ​​cruises, book expensive category cabins with a balcony or suites. These statistics were shared by Natalya Bentas, Royal Caribbean’s executive director for the Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa markets at the company’s press conference “ Cruise house MK" November 14.

Only clients from the Middle East book more expensive accommodation on board than Russians – 90%. For comparison, among tourists from Belgium and the Netherlands only 52% are ready to take this step, and clients from Spain prefer balconies by 28%, the rest prefer internal cabins and cabins with a window. In addition, Russians are among the top three most wasteful tourists on board, along with passengers from China and the Middle East.

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Natalya Andronova, general director of Atlantis Line, explains this by the Russian mentality. “Cruise companies value Russian tourists - they love shopping on board and leave the most generous tips. In addition, they love balconies. But people who choose cruises are well off all over the world. Even statistics say that this type of vacation is preferred by intelligent clients who want to see the world and have a good job. In the city, they spend two to three times more than land-based tourists,” she said.

However, according to observers, Russians now make up less than 1% of the total number of clients cruise companies. As told to Giani Rotondo, CEO Royal Caribbean in the regions of Europe, the Middle East and Africa, now the Russian market supplies only 6 thousand passengers of the company per year. The tour operator wants to increase the share of this market to 15 thousand by 2020.

The seriousness of the plans is confirmed by the introduction of Russian-language service on the company’s most modern liner – Symphony of the Seas. According to Natalya Andronova, suppliers make such decisions when the market potential begins to grow. Moreover, other players have already taken similar steps: for example, for the first time in world cruise history, Costa Cruises introduced a full Russian-language service on four ships. And in April, Carnival is launching a new liner, Carnival Horison, with Russian service, which will make cruises around Mediterranean Sea. In addition, on two Carnival ships cruising the Caribbean, a service for tourists from Russia operates throughout the year, despite the fact that this destination is far from our country.

Natalya Bentas confirmed: the sea cruise market in Russia has doubled in five years - from 40 to 80 thousand passengers per year. In her opinion, the Russian segment is growing faster than others in Europe, despite the fact that the company’s sales in the Russian Federation fell in 2016.

13.09.2017

The development of water tourism on Sakhalin is included in the list of projects of the Federal Target Program

It will start working in 2019

The federal target program for the development of domestic and inbound tourism will be updated - the previous mechanism for the development of the industry was recognized as ineffective. The new concept will pay special attention to water tourism - there are many problems in this area that need to be solved. As Deputy Head of the Federal Tourism Agency Alexey Konyushkov said at the international conference “Water Tourism” in St. Petersburg, a new concept of the program is now being agreed upon. The first projects are already known, one of them includes Sakhalin region, reports SakhalinMedia news agency with reference to Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

“It (the new concept - editor’s note) will begin to operate in 2019, which will allow, within the framework of public-private partnerships and the cluster approach, to expand state support for tourism, and water tourism in particular,” explained Alexey Konyushkov. “The new version of the program includes the selection of regional projects on promising tourist areas of development water tourism who will receive special funding."

The first projects are already known - this is the promising destination "Volga Route", uniting the Samara, Nizhny Novgorod and Ulyanovsk regions, the republics of Tatarstan, Chuvashia and Mari El. The second direction includes cruises, spa treatment with elements beach tourism in Astrakhan, Dagestan and Kalmykia, the third - "Russian Arctic" (Murmansk, Arkhangelsk regions, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Sakha), the fourth - "Amur" with cruises on the river of the same name, the fifth direction of water tourism - Kamchatka Territory and Sakhalin. The list will be expanded.

“It is possible to combine budgetary and extra-budgetary funds within the framework of the program,” State Duma deputy, head of the subcommittee on tourism Sergei Krivonosov told Rossiyskaya Gazeta. “Relatively speaking, according to the old target program, three rubles of private investments per ruble of budget funds were assumed, and the difficult situation with loans in the country has led to many businessmen taking on impossible obligations."

According to him, it makes sense to combine low-cost loans for small and medium-sized businesses with federal funds, and then businesses will be interested in working in passenger water transportation.

Number cruise tourists is growing worldwide, in 2017 it is projected to be almost 26 million people

Director of the association of tour operators "Tourpomosch" Alexander Osaulenko cited data from the International Association of Cruise Lines - the number of cruise tourists in the world is growing, in 2017, according to forecasts, it will be almost 26 million people. In Russia there is a slight increase in marine tourism, but mainly due to the Baltic Sea, which is among the top popular cruise destinations in the world. According to him, the current capacity of Russian ports is 15-20 percent higher than the activity of passenger ship calls.

To attract tourists, you first need to know where to moor. The quay wall in Vladivostok was reconstructed, and the pier in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky was updated this year. If previously one ship came here per quarter, landing in the bay and delivering tourists to the shore by boat, now there is a demand. First of all, American companies are interested in routes with stops at the port of Petropavlovsk.

News

The International Association of Cruise Lines announced statistics on cruises in 2016

24.7 million people traveled by sea last year. Thus, the results of 2016 exceeded forecasts: experts predicted that the number cruise passengers in the world will reach 24.2 million.

The most popular cruise destinations are Caribbean(accounting for 35% of the total global cruise market), Mediterranean basin (18.3%). Then come cruises to Europe, Asia, in fifth place are sea voyages to Australia, New Zealand and islands Pacific Ocean. Alaska cruises take sixth place, closing the top 7 South America.

At the end of 2017, the number of tourists going on cruises should reach 25.8 million, noted the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA). Much of the industry's growth will be driven by the continued development of the Asian market, whose share has increased over the past year.

By comparison, CLIA counted 21.3 million cruise travelers worldwide in 2013.

The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) was formed at the end of 2012. Its members included the European Cruise Council, the Asian Cruises Association, the Passenger Shipping Association, the French Association of Cruise Companies (Association Française des Compagnies de Croisière), the Brazilian Association ABREMAR, the North-West and the Canadian Cruise Association (Northwest and Canada Cruise Association), Alaska Cruise Association (Alaska Cruise Association), International Cruise Council Australia and Cruise Lines International Association.

Last year, only about 60 thousand Russians vacationed on sea cruises, but these trips can attract a much larger number of tourists in Russia. Experts from the Italian cruise company Costa Cruises came to these conclusions.

Despite the small volume Russian tourists on the company's ships, Costa Cruises experts positively assess the market prospects. The company conducted a survey that examined the preferences of Russians aged 25-65 who planned to spend a vacation (at least seven days a year) abroad and spend approximately 1,000 euros per person. In total, more than 500 people from this category of tourism service consumers were interviewed.

“About 97% of respondents are thinking about spending their holidays on a cruise, 76% are interested in this prospect in the next 2-3 years, and 13% have already planned a sea cruise,” said Silvia Carloni, managing director of Fulcra.

“The dynamics of the last six months have shown that Russian tourists’ interest in cruises is growing. In total, last year 60 thousand Russians went on sea cruises, most of them with Costa Cruises. This year we expect serious growth. Moreover, Russians view cruises both as an opportunity to relax and as a fashion trend,” said Costa Cruises President Neil Palomba.

According to the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), 25.3 million people around the world plan to go on cruises this year.

He emphasized that the most popular cruise destination among Russians is the Mediterranean Sea, Northern Europe with a call at St. Petersburg. Mr. Palomba recalled that AlItalia airline operates direct flights from the Northern Russian capital to Venice, from where cruises depart to Greece, Croatia and etc. Also, according to Neil Palombo, Russians are also interested in traveling around Indian Ocean, Caribbean, etc.

Answering a question about the language barrier, he emphasized that on those cruises where the majority of tourists came from Russia or, for example, China, there are always employees from these countries. In addition, menus and cruise programs have been translated into Russian. Neil Palomba compared the cost of a day of cruise to the price of dinner in a Moscow restaurant. True, he emphasized that a sea cruise is not all inclusive, the cost consists of accommodation, three meals a day and entertainment on board, and drinks and excursions are paid separately.

Senior Vice President for International Sales of the company, Massimo Brancaleoni, added that the crisis in Russia is coming to an end and recalled that if at its height the euro exchange rate reached 100 rubles, now it is at around 60 rubles. This also contributes to the interest of cruise companies in the Russian market. At the press conference, the materials also included approximate prices for sea cruises, for example, a cruise + holiday in Sardinia - from 1336 euros for 11 days.

According to Russian companies that sell sea cruises, 2015 was a failure, but already 2016 gave an increase of 20-25%, and the increase in sales at the beginning of 2017 was even more significant - up to 30%. But we are talking specifically about the increase in the number of tourists, in monetary terms the increase turned out to be not so significant: people began to save more, travel less often and buy cheaper cruises.

If we talk about world statistics, then the annual increase in tourists in the sea cruise industry is approximately a million people. Thus, according to the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), 25.3 million people plan to go on cruises this year, last year 24.2 million people took sea cruises, in 2015 - 23.19 million, a year earlier - 22.3 million. The cruise market ten years ago included 15.8 million passengers.

The two-day IX International Forum “Water Tourism”, organized with the support of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Culture of Russia, the Ministry of Transport of Russia, the Federal Agency for Tourism and other relevant ministries and departments, recently ended in St. Petersburg.

It has already become traditional for Northern capital This year's event was attended by about 300 delegates from federal and regional authorities, scientific, educational and business organizations.

The platform was created with the aim of developing a constructive dialogue among all interested parties: representatives of government, business and the scientific community.

The forum discussed issues of implementing government management mechanisms in the field of water tourism, creating at the federal level the necessary conditions for the realization of tourism opportunities water resources countries.

The Federal Tourism Agency was represented by the deputy head of the agency, Alexey Konyushkov.

He told the event participants about the work being done to prepare a new federal target program for the development of domestic and inbound tourism for 2019-2025 and the decisions provided within the concept of this document aimed at realizing the opportunities of water tourism in Russia. In particular, the concept of the new Federal Target Program identifies 15 promising tourist destinations, 9 of which are to one degree or another related to cruise and water tourism.

Total length Russia's navigable rivers, canals and lakes are about 100 thousand kilometers. Water arteries penetrate 60 regions of the country. There are almost 70 sea ports in the country. This is a serious basis for the development of the Russian Federation as a global destination for water and cruise tourism. However, solving this problem requires the adoption of a whole range of measures to eliminate existing restrictions on growth and the coordination of the efforts of all stakeholders.

Taking into account the further increase in demand for domestic and inbound tourist trips predicted by industry experts, it is necessary to develop new mechanisms for effective legal regulation of passenger navigation issues, as well as development of the infrastructure of inland waterways and seaports of our country. In addition, on this moment there is a need to increase the attractiveness of water tourism not only for compatriots, but also for foreign audiences. In this regard, it is important to develop existing and create new tourist routes, focused on the needs and interests of tourists from abroad.

Particular attention should be paid to creating conditions for the development of Russian ports as cruise destinations.

Currently, sea cruises from foreign cruise companies are one of the most promising drivers of inbound tourism.

According to the International Cruise Lines Association, 24.7 million people took a sea voyage in 2016. The most popular cruise destinations were the Caribbean and Mediterranean basins, European countries, states South-East Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

About half a million cruise tourists arrive in Russia every year, who are attracted by the opportunity to enter our country for 72 hours, during which they have time to see St. Petersburg and Moscow.

Typically, cruise tourists arrive at Russian Federation from economically developed countries: the USA and the European Union. According to CLIA statistics, they tend to spend about 3-4 times more money when visiting Russia than tourists of other categories spend. Also, cruise tourists are for the most part “return clients”. Fans of this type of travel become its permanent adherents, which ensures a steadily growing incoming tourist flow.

“Russia is a very interesting and promising destination for cruise tourism. At the same time, reception opportunities cruise ships and quality of service for tourists in coastal regions our countries vary greatly. The bulk of cruise ships entering our country - 209 ships and 456 thousand tourists in 2016 - are received by the passenger port of St. Petersburg. At the same time, not even dozens, but only a few ship calls are made to Chukotka, Vladivostok, and Murmansk. At the same time, the annual number of cruise ship calls, for example, in Alaska is about 600. In order to attract cruise tourists to Russian ports, it is necessary to consolidate the efforts of the state and business to take the necessary infrastructure measures, as well as to create the most favorable conditions for tourists and increase the competitiveness of our countries among the world's cruise destinations,” says Oleg Safonov, Head of the Federal Tourism Agency.