The Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy informs about the state of affairs on the touristic front

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The Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy informs about the state of affairs on the touristic front

Informatiion Department
Published on 13 April 2022, at 22:41

For more than a month and a half, Ukraine has been resisting the russian invasion. All front lines are important in the struggle for the sovereignty of our state and democratic values. Economic sanctions play an important role. The world tourist community also joined them.
According to the State Agency of Ukraine for Tourism Development, as of today:
- The European Union, the United States and Canada have closed their airspace to russian aircraft;
- booking services Booking.com, Airbnb and Expedia have stopped working in the aggressor country;
- The UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) convened an extraordinary meeting of the Executive Council in early March and suspended russia's membership in the UNWTO.
However, there are still organisations that have not yet joined the sanctions.
DART analysed how world tourism actually supports Ukraine and who has not yet left the russian market.
One of the world's richest hotel chains, Marriott Hotels, on the one hand donated more than $100 million to help Ukrainians, and on the other hand, has not closed its hotels in russia like other American hotel companies - HYATT Hotels, Wyndham, Hilton Hotels & Resorts and Radisson, which still operate in russia today. And this is happening despite the fact that the United States is constantly imposing economic sanctions on russia.
In addition, there is a long list of countries that remain neutral or do not condemn russia at all. Currently, there are more than 70 of them, and this list includes Croatia, Sri Lanka, Seychelles, Montenegro, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and others.
Turkey has the most interesting situation among the countries that are ready to receive tourists from Russia. "They are even seriously considering creating a new airline that will deal exclusively with the transportation of russian tourists to Turkish resorts because the European Aviation Safety Agency has suspended the certificates of airworthiness of all russian airlines. The Turkish government plans to provide credit support to Turkish tour operators based in russia, primarily Anex, Pegas and Coral. The total loan amount is $300 million. This support package is expected to be announced in the first week of May. In addition, Turkey's largest airline, Turkish Airlines, has agreed to provide 1.5 million seats for "package" tourists from russia. In total, Turkish resorts plan to host more than 3 million russians this tourist season,” DART notes.
Despite European sanctions, Etihad Airways, Emirates and Qatar Airways are successfully connecting russia with the rest of the world. A similar policy is pursued by Israel's largest airline EL AL ?? ??. Currently, it is through the air hubs of these countries that russians travel to the EU, Canada and the United States.
Air China, China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines, owned by the Chinese government, allow russian tourists to fly to North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. And because they work at russian airports, they make a direct contribution to the russian economy.
The State Agency for Tourism Development of Ukraine urges citizens not to use the services of these airlines.