After the abolition of the Turkish and Egyptian direction the Russians are trying to have a rest during the May holidays in Greece cheap. However, the Greek Consulate was not ready for an influx of tourists, faced with queues for the surrender and receipt of documents.
At the moment consuls consideration is the order of one thousand. Customer passports Pegas Touristik tickets from 1 to 15 May, for it has not yet received a visa, told “Gazeta.ru” the general director of tour operator Anna Podgornaya
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According to the tourist industry, all could accumulate more than 10 thousand passports.. There are already a few dozen people who have not received a visa on time. The reason was the high demand for tours in the country, including in the absence of such areas as Egypt and Turkey, said the press secretary of the Russian Union of Travel Industry (PCT) Irina Turina.
«Every year before the May holidays in the beginning of the Greek season problems with the consulate, but at 40% this year scale of the disaster is incomparably greater.
two weeks ago, tour operators have recorded an increase in demand for the purchase of the May tour to Greece for to last year “, – she explained” Gazeta.ru »
Among the demands on Greece in relation to traveling alone last year also increased.. According to statistics metapoiskovika Momondo, growth in the number on the travel request to Greece amounted to 16%, the country became included in the top ten most popular countries, up from 12 th place to 10 th. According to an online service OneTwoTrip data, the number of purchases tickets from Russia to Greece increased by 5%.
At the end of 2016 Rosturizm expects to increase the tourist flow from Russia to Greece by 20%, said the head of department, Oleg Safonov. “We are sure that this season will increase Russian tourist flow to Greece by 20% compared to last year. We fix and tour operators that Greece is now in the tops of sales, in particular during the May holidays, “- he said. According to Rosstat, in 2015 Greece was visited by 634 thousand. Russian tourists.
Greek consular authorities simply do not have calculated this situation, not believing the projected number of people wishing to obtain a visa, according to representatives of the tourism industry .
Usually, the beginning of the season in the Greek Foreign Ministry sends additional consulate employees. “This year, they probably just have not calculated their strength. When in mid-April consulate realized that it can not cope with the flow of the document, they were limited to recording on the reception of documents rather than to request additional forces, “- said Turina. Instead of coming in early April, more workers have come to the end of the month.
In this case, one of the tour operators to Greece, reports that Russian tour operators have repeatedly warned Rosturizm and the Ministry of Tourism of Greece about the upcoming excitement in connection with the strengthening ruble and, more importantly, due to the fact that Greece has maintained or even in some cases reduced the prices of accommodation in hotels.
Rosturizm also warned Greek counterparts about a possible increase in tourist traffic for May.
«But the Greeks were unable to allocate additional funds to increase staff. Consulates clearly not enough visa officers, although the Greeks selflessly work seven days a week and almost around the clock, – said a source familiar with the situation
-. And, of course, the delay in the registration of any iz the need to obtain a biometric visa paperwork process is delayed, and for this reason »
However, the greek life began to take action to stabilize the situation
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«On April 26, the consulate was working until late at night. Yesterday brought the latest batch of documents from the consulate about half a second. People waiting for the documents, each machine was met with thunderous applause “- says Tyurin. Moreover, the center staff will work and on vacation.
unofficially, but the Greeks went to work, and on Good Friday, but had to move for the holidays, she says. It is planned that the consular staff will work on the first May Day celebrations. Also passports sorted by priority with respect to the date of departure, engaging primarily nearest dates.
Tour Operators is not expecting a large-scale collapse of the visa. “We hope all the Russian tourists will take off in a timely manner,” – Piedmont declared
However, the consulate issues are likely to fall on the tourism business shoulders
..
The tourists, who were unable to receive documents in time will be offered several options for solving the situation. The delay in obtaining a visa is suitable for the insured event, if the customer purchased the appropriate insurance. However, such services are no more than 10-15% of clients, said Turin.
The rest will be offered to transfer to other vacation date or get a refund. “Our two tourists who had planned to fly from Moscow to Greece, no visa has been issued on time. We are working either to postpone a scheduled tour or the return of funds in full, “- cites CEO Mouzenidis Group Alexander Tsandekidi
Offer the other direction instead of Greece would mean double the cost of tour operator since. Greek tour has already been paid, and the new direction on the alternative will have to pay business.
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