When the holiday season begins. Holiday season

All the conversations around where to go, when to send the children to the dacha, or what kind of tour to buy at a good price - today, for millions of Russian citizens, an annual holiday abroad has ceased to be an unaffordable luxury. However, there is still little experience in the tourist conquest of the world.

Report by Alexander Botukhov.

The Zagryazhsky family had been especially looking forward to this meeting at the Moscow airport all last week. The holiday in Turkey turned out to be too impressive.

Evgenia Zagryazhskaya: “On Saturday we came back from lunch and couldn’t get to our rooms. Because our cards were blocked, and we went to the reception to find out what was going on.”

There, Evgenia was told that she needed to pay for the accommodation again for all three weeks. Because the operator "Vasco de Tour" went bankrupt and did not transfer the money. So, overnight, hundreds of Russian tourists found themselves forced onto the street. Moreover, for some reason, the tour operator’s problems affected only clients who came from Russia.

Now, after this story, several thousand more tourists from Russia know that holidays abroad cannot always be cloudless. Holidays in Egypt for Masha Saxonova became truly unforgettable. She, a fifteen-year-old girl, was even allowed to ride an ATV.

Masha Saxonova: “The ATV overturned. I don’t remember anything after that, I already woke up when my arm was broken in half.”

The organizers were unable to provide first aid to the child on the spot. Now Masha knows that at her age, riding an ATV is strictly prohibited. These rules apply all over the world. But in a number of countries they turn a blind eye to this for the sake of money. In Moscow, Masha will have two more operations. And the doctors cannot yet answer when she will be able to continue her music studies.

Vacations with unhappy endings are already a common occurrence in mainstream tourism destinations. Moreover, no one is immune from disappointment.

Footage of passengers being fed at the airport was shown on all Russian television channels in early June. Those waiting for their flight were fed right in the airport building. For several thousand tourists, whose flights were then delayed for two days, this is how their vacation began.

And this video was filmed in the Maldives at Male airport. Russian tourists could not fly home for a day. But no one saw a problem with this.

Everyone knows what a vacation should be like. But no one knows when it can go bad. This was the case on May 1, when at one in the morning a bus with tourists left Sharm el-Sheikh for Cairo.

This is the now famous Egyptian road to Cairo. It's six hours on the road to see the Pyramids, and that's how long it takes to get back. The trip begins at night and ends at night. This is too tiring a journey for tourists, let alone drivers. And when the bus sets off, none of the passengers know how many times in a row their driver has already traveled to Cairo.

Nine people died in that accident. Nikita found his mother a few meters from the bus, but she was unconscious. And the boy himself dragged her away from the accident. They don’t know why this tragedy happened. Because we immediately fell asleep as soon as the bus set off.

Bus driver Ashraf is preparing for his next trip with his partner. The fact that he had the opportunity to check the car was a great success. He usually works every day. And there is no time left for inspection. That night he will take tourists to Cairo. And what this path will be like - only Allah knows.

Ashraf, a bus driver in Egypt: “We have a very hard job. We are always on the road. Now I have a partner, and he will always back me up if anything happens. But I also worked alone. Of course, it’s difficult not to sleep 2 days, but no one fines us, because we have our own Egyptian traffic rules."

The fact that in Egypt everyone drives as they please is no longer news. Russian guide Irina Sukhoverkhova herself had two accidents while traveling to Cairo. She knows well that local bus drivers spend too much time driving, so very often a bus ticket can become unlucky.

Any Egyptian store will tell you how you can get on such a “cherished” bus. This is the place where travel is half the price. Our question about the number of drivers on the train even made the entertainment seller laugh.

Vyacheslav Kursakov keeps the photo on his mobile phone for trial. After all, he spent two days of his vacation in an Egyptian prison. Vyacheslav Kursakov could not even imagine that he himself would have to answer for the guide’s rudeness. He simply asked to speed up check-in at the hotel. Instead, the attendant began to insult him. When persuasion to calm down did not help, Vyacheslav in the heat of the moment grabbed the guide by the shirt. This was the reason for the arrest.

Svetlana Barmina, wife of Vyacheslav Kursakov: “In principle, if we had a normal translator with us, who should be introduced by the receiving party, or at least a person who knows the laws of Egypt, for us this could be limited to a deposit.”

But Anton Samoilenko, director of the Center for Assistance Abroad, says that these tourists escaped with a slight fright. Or they could end up behind bars for several years. After all, the number of Russians who “sat down on the path” in this way has already exceeded several thousand.

Anton Samoilenko, director of the Center for Legal Assistance Abroad: “Of all those caught, a third are actually guilty of something, a third end up completely by accident due to ignorance of the laws and lack of protection. And a third are guilty of something, but for the wrong period and not for the guilt of which they are accused."

Who is responsible for a ruined vacation is the most important question for a tourist upon his return. After all, there are enough reasons to sue.

In this Turkish hotel, people lived according to the principle: Those who are not on time are late. Even for food we had to fight. They now want to show this footage in court. But practice shows that it is still time-consuming and expensive to sue tour operators.

The small office has been crowded for a long time. The number of complaints is only increasing every year. Every day, dozens of folders with claims from here are sent to court. Too often, a “vacation” abroad requires a lot of work.

Dmitry Davydenko, director of the Center for the Protection and Assistance of Citizens Abroad: “The most common risks are the replacement of hotels, when a tour operator changes the hotel. The second is delays in flights, departures, this is the most common violation of consumer rights in the field of tourism, so. And unfortunately, This situation is only getting worse every day."

Many vacationers are convinced every year that even a beach holiday can be life-threatening. The mass referral service has long become intrusive. This year it is expected that the number of holidaymakers in these countries will only increase. This means there will be no fewer stories about ruined vacations.

Two thousand Russians from different social groups told where they were going to go in the summer. It turned out that 70% of respondents are trying to break out of everyday life, but only half of them have clear plans. For example, many decided to refuse a trip to Europe due to the situation in the world,” said VTsIOM director Valery Fedorov.

Video: Channel Five

— 70% would like to go on vacation, but less than half have real plans. Those who remain will spend this summer at home, in the country, on their plots. The second reason why people stay at home is because they are busy with work. Not everyone has a vacation in the summer. And the third reason is family circumstances and health. But we don’t have many principled homebodies, those who would like to spend their holidays at home. Over the past few years, the popularity of domestic tourism has been growing. The ruble is now worth significantly less than four years ago, so material opportunities have decreased. This is also due to the general situation in the world. She remains anxious and tense. Many people do not want to go abroad. For an entire category of citizens, it is possible to travel abroad only to a limited list of countries. The top preferences include Crimea and the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus. All other tourist destinations in Russia are in third position. There are quite a lot of them. This includes Altai, St. Petersburg, and Moscow. Foreign destinations are less popular and are not included in the top three, - Fedorov said.

The total cost of a week's vacation for Russians, on average, is 55-60 thousand rubles, including flights. At the same time, according to the executive director of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, Maya Lomidze, the preferences of compatriots in choosing a destination have remained virtually unchanged. However, the fluctuation of the ruble exchange rate in February-March played a role. Those who did not have time to buy a ticket for the summer then had to cut their travel expenses quite significantly now.

Video: Channel Five

— In fact, the directions have not changed for many years. These are Turkey, Spain, Bulgaria in outbound tourism, and if we talk about domestic tourism, the leaders are the Krasnodar Territory, in particular Sochi. Leaders do not change. Another thing is that this season is quite difficult from a business point of view. Those rosy prospects that were outlined during the early booking period, in February-March, the closer to the season, the dimmer the rainbow became. Now she is practically gone. If it was expected that there would be an increase in all directions: domestic, outbound, it is now obvious after exchange rate fluctuations throughout April that an increase in some directions is hardly possible. And maintaining last year’s volumes can already be considered an achievement for this season. Of course, there are exceptions. This is Türkiye, which shows a good growth rate. But in all other areas, an increase of around 5-10% is a very optimistic forecast. The choice of tourist destinations has not changed due to the international situation. There is certainly an economic impact. People began to reconsider their plans for the summer. And this influence is noticeable. As for the political situation, those countries that are actively involved in the political situation are not mass holiday destinations for our citizens,- Lomidze said.

Last year, from June 1 to the end of September, eight million Russians went abroad. This year, despite the cautious mood, experts expect 20% more people to travel. The increase will be ensured by the Turkish direction. Also last summer, the Krasnodar Territory had unprecedented indicators. 15 million people went there. Of these, four million chose Sochi, not only the city itself with the coast, but also the mountains. It’s too early to guess how many Russians will go on vacation. It is simply impossible to predict problems with carriers (like with Vim-Avia), natural disasters and collapses of the global economy, says Lomidze.

Singer Yulia Nachalova admitted in an interview with Channel 5 that she was in love with Russian resorts for the second year in a row. And it's not about the budget at all. There will be tours in the Mediterranean countries, but a vacation “in a state-owned house abroad” will not compare with a warm family or friendly company, Yulia believes.

Video: Channel Five

— For the second year in a row I have received tremendous pleasure from Russian resorts. Seriously. I don't know what this is connected with. I really like that there are a lot of landscaped and beautiful places. I was born in Voronezh and spent every summer with my grandparents at the dacha. This is a wonderful pine forest, the historical Bityug River. Having been there last summer for the first time in a long time, I dream of going there again. I will have some combinations with tours related to the Mediterranean Sea, but it seems to me that we are already sufficiently saturated with that energy and hotel history. I want more loved ones nearby, more barbecues, more communication. I love the river and nature. I’m planning to go with my family to a dacha in a pine forest and celebrate my dad’s birthday there. All my relatives have been living in Moscow for many years, but sometimes people cannot meet in Moscow. This year we want to receive emotions as a big friendly family. This is much nicer than looking at another pool and buffet. Relations in the world are strained, but planes do not stop flying back and forth in different directions. I have been to Paris 11 times and Rome 14 times. So what? Our nature inspires. For creative people, you need to look at nature with your eyes. New songs are written better, - Nachalova shared.

The singer plans to go on vacation in July. It is in the second and third months of summer that traditionally there is a peak in demand for tourist destinations. People are trying to gain strength before the school and work year. Opera and pop singer Nikolai Baskov is going to retire to the islands of Italy. He spoke about this in an interview with Channel Five. The golden tenor of Russia prefers to first be in solitude.

Video: Channel Five

- I will be abroad, in Italy - Sardinia. I'm going with friends. Now I will be in Crimea for four days. On the island where I am flying, the international intensity is not felt. There are a lot of my compatriots there who have lived there for a long time. And there is a very friendly attitude towards Russians. Been to Sochi. It’s a wonderful resort, I especially like Krasnaya Polyana. The hotel was built according to world standards, and there is an entertainment sector. You can always go somewhere. A casino was recently opened there for those who like to gamble. But my favorite vacation is to fly to the islands. First, a moment of loneliness, and then spend time with your beloved, relax. So that it is solitude,— Baskov shared.

According to the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, a new destination for mass travel has emerged this year - Albania. Previously, the flow of tourists to this country was rather sluggish, but now two companies have launched charter flights to the Balkan Peninsula. Also, the interest of compatriots in resorts in the countries of the former USSR does not wane. Increasingly, destinations are being chosen: Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus.

Aniya Bataeva

Context

The holiday season is in full swing. Some are already sadly remembering the days off, while others have yet to rest. How to find out how many days of vacation you are entitled to in a given situation, is it possible to “hurry up” the turn to go on vacation, what are the rules for providing vacation at your own expense? Answers to these and other hot questions about workers' rights are in the next issue of our column.

How much does it “drip” into the vacation piggy bank?

“I worked for a year and three months, I never took a vacation,” Marina, an employee of a small company, tells a typical story on one of the Internet forums. “Now I’m about to quit and want to take off my unused vacation before leaving, help me calculate: how many days am I entitled to?” Note that in practice, questions about calculating the number of vacation days arise very often. Many employees share their standard vacation and do not take full time off this year. Some find it difficult to make calculations because they have recently been hired or are under an employment contract for less than a year.

In any case, the following rules will help you navigate. We proceed from the general rule that for one year of work an employee is granted 28 calendar days of vacation (Article 115 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). Let us clarify: in this case, the year is not counted according to the calendar - from January 1, but from the date of your hire. At the same time, the right to leave for the first year of work arises already 6 months after employment, unless the employer sets an even earlier date (Article 122 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). That is, after working in a new place for six months, you get the right to take a well-deserved rest for as many as 28 calendar days.

And then we think like this. Since for one full year of work - 12 months - we are entitled to 28 calendar days of paid leave, then for each subsequent month worked, rest time accumulates according to the scheme: 28 divided by 12 equals 2.33. Total: for a month of work we are entitled to 2.33 days of vacation. Just don’t get confused: this doesn’t mean that at the end of any working month (or two or three months) you can ask to take several accumulated days off. This figure is used specifically for calculations, and the specific time for going on vacation is determined based on the vacation schedule approved by the organization (Article 123 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

And another note: any employee working under an employment contract has the right to vacation. Including if the contract is concluded for a period of less than a year. In these cases, the same principle applies: the number of vacation days depends on the number of months worked (see above). And if the employment contract is concluded for a period of up to two months, then a special rule applies (Article 291 of the Labor Code): vacation is calculated in working days according to the “two days per month of work” scheme.

Young mothers and part-time workers - out of turn

As we noted, according to the general rule, leave is provided to employees according to the schedule approved by the organization (in accordance with Article 123 of the Labor Code, this schedule is approved no later than two weeks before the end of each calendar year). At the same time, some categories of employees have the opportunity to “accelerate” their turn, regardless of the schedule.

True, not at any time, but in certain situations. In particular, the Labor Code provides for the following preferential norms:

- employees under 18 years of age are granted annual paid leave at any time convenient for them (Article 267 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation);

- women going on maternity leave can, if they wish, take regular annual leave immediately before maternity leave or immediately after maternity leave or after the end of parental leave (Article 260 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation);

- the husband of a woman on maternity leave has the right to take leave during the period of his wife’s maternity leave (Article 123 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation);

- an employee who officially works part-time, going on vacation at his main job, can, out of turn, take the same leave at his combined job (Article 286 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

"Release at your own expense!"

As for leave at their own expense, some employees are mistaken in believing that they can take such unpaid “time off” of their own free will. In fact, according to the Labor Code, this requires the consent of the employer. But the Labor Code does not limit the duration of unpaid leave: for as long as the boss allows you to leave, you can be absent (these basic norms are enshrined in Article 128 of the Labor Code).

In addition, there are a number of “preferential” exceptions to the general rule. Namely: on the basis of the same Art. 128, the employer is obliged to provide leave without pay upon a written application from the employee if the employee belongs to any of the following categories:

- working old-age pensioners (men over 60 years of age, women over 55) - without agreement with the employer, they are entitled to up to 14 calendar days of vacation at their own expense per year;

- disabled employees (regardless of group) - up to 60 calendar days of unpaid leave per year;

- employees in whose family a child was born, as well as in the case of marriage registration and in the event of the death of a close relative - up to 5 calendar days of leave at their own expense per year for each of the circumstances.

Let us emphasize: in these cases we are talking about situations where unpaid leave is provided at the request of the employee without agreement with the employer. At the same time, this does not deprive the mentioned employees of the right to go on other vacations at their own expense with the approval of management.

Finally, one of the most frequently asked questions: is it possible to “take money” instead of taking time off? The answer is clear: it is possible, but... only in case of dismissal. According to Art. 127 of the Labor Code, upon dismissal of an employee, he is paid compensation for all unused vacation days accumulated during his work in this organization.

Anna Dobryukha

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The holiday season is in full swing. Some are already sadly remembering the days off, while others have yet to rest. How to find out how many days of vacation you are entitled to in a given situation, is it possible to “hurry up” the turn to go on vacation, what are the rules for providing vacation at your own expense? Answers to these and other hot questions about workers' rights are in the next issue of our column.

" In less than a month, all these travel companies went bankrupt, closed or otherwise left their clients without a vacation (like Natalie Tours, which canceled all charters and canceled all tours).

The last two cases are especially significant. Both DSBW and Natalie Tours are real dinosaurs of the tourism market. Both were created in the early 90s - in fact, as soon as Russians began traveling abroad. We worked for a quarter of a century and survived all the crises. But in 2018 they couldn’t stand it.

What happened? All the experts’ arguments that are being heard now fit into 7 reasons.

THOSE WHO HAVE PROBLEMS HAVE THEMSELVES TO BLAME, BUT IN GENERAL EVERYTHING IS GOOD

There is no crisis or super difficulties in the Russian tourism market. I want to reassure everyone, this is the opinion of the head of the Federal Tourism Agency Oleg Safonov.

Why then are tour operators collapsing one after another? According to the official, this is due “to an incorrect assessment by travel companies of market conditions, errors in forecasts of consumer demand and inflated expectations regarding the growth of outbound tourism in a number of destinations.”

To be fair: in Russia there are 630 tour operators involved in foreign holidays. Seven have problems. One percent.

NO MONEY, NO DEMAND

“Low financial performance”, “market situation” - the heads of problematic travel companies describe the reasons for failure in these words. What's behind them? Weak ruble. Yes, without jumps, that’s already good, but still the ruble exchange rate has not returned to its previous positions - and therefore holidays abroad are actually more expensive than several years ago. But people are not showing off at all now.

The tourism business itself, in the language of economists, is low-margin. Profits are small, debt load is extreme. So the position of many companies is fragile.

CHARTER IS ROAD NOW

Fuel prices have risen, followed by flights, including charter flights. Aurora BG, which canceled charter chains to Bulgaria and Montenegro, blames this factor.

TRAVEL AGENTS ARE NOT VALUEED

Discussing Natalie’s problems, some travel agents openly gloat: they say there was no point in betting on direct sales to tourists. They pushed away the travel agents themselves and are now suffering. Indeed, Natalie Tours once offered good discounts to vacationers who booked trips directly with them, without intermediaries.

FOREIGN TOUR OPERATORS

It is also a sin that the Russian market is dominated by tour operators owned by foreigners and foreign companies (although officially the owners and general directors are most often Russians). “It’s a shame that the old Russian tour operators are leaving the market... and I feel sorry for them all. And it’s not clear why we don’t value our tour operators; they don’t have any advantages in their home market... If you want to do business in the UAE, pay the locals. Yes, everywhere they value their producers.” - “The thought also haunts me all day. After all, of the large companies abroad, only Biblio Globus is Russian. “Intourist” and the one with “Thomas Cook” for a long time” is a dialogue from a professional forum.

INDEPENDENT TOURISTS

At the same time, the resorts themselves share joyful statistics: 355 thousand Russians managed to visit Spain in five months of 2018, that is, before the start of the summer season - 9% more than last year. Antalya has a record: from January to June, 1.9 million Russians vacationed there, immediately exceeding the 2017 figures by 40%.

There is no demand from travel agencies, but there are more and more travelers - how is this? It is obvious: more and more Russians are traveling independently. And after the current scandalous wave of fans of package holidays, there will probably be even fewer fans.

EIGHTH REASON

Everyone watches football instead of the beach!

We still included the World Cup in the list, although the reason seems dubious. Vladimir Vorobyov, president of the Natalie Tours group of companies, quite seriously called it one of the reasons for his company’s problems. What does football have to do with it? In June 2018, Russians decided to stay at home, watch football and cheer for the national team, rather than fly to the sea.

IN DETAIL

Using the example of his company, Vladimir Vorobyov described a snowball of problems:

A few weeks ago, we began to face a liquidity shortage; we began to lack funds to pay for the services of our partners. This led to the fact that last Friday one of the key partners in Spain refused to cooperate with us. We are faced with such a situation for the first time in 25 years. We had no choice but to cancel the flights. Otherwise, up to a thousand Russian tourists would end up at Spanish airports without transfers or hotels. Information about the cancellation of charters became a catalyst for rumors and speculation. Our partners began to disconnect us from service, more than 50% sent us cancellations. If on Monday we had available funds to extinguish the negativity, everything would have gone differently. But we had a million-dollar shipping payment that couldn't be missed.

NUMBERS

“Natalie Tours” sold 22 thousand tours in 2017.

119 million rubles – the profit of three legal entities included in the Natalie Tours group of companies over the past year. In the first quarter of 2018, the profit was 28 million rubles, in the second they expect losses of 8-10 million.

3.5 thousand clients of Natalie Tours are abroad. They have return tickets; many people have problems paying for hotels.

4.5 thousand travel agencies have contracts with Natalie Tours and sell their tours.

150 million rubles is the total amount of financial guarantees of Natalie Tours; tourists can count on compensation from this money.

According to Natalie Tours and Rostourism.