In the aisles of the tourism fair, Porte de Versailles in Paris, Gérard and Joëlle are undecided. The couple is looking for a holiday destination: “I’m a little surprised to see Romania right behind you, slips Gérard.
“Who is going to go to Romania right now? It’s not easy.”
Gérard, visitor to the tourism fairat franceinfo
“We would like to know what they are going to show us because it restricts the possibilities of travel at the moment”, he adds. Tourism professionals expect Russia’s war in Ukraine to deter travelers from traveling to Eastern Europe.
Gérard has an idea of a destination but it does not fit into his budget: “A few years ago we went to China. We would like to go back there. We know that currently it takes five hours more, because the plane can no longer fly over Russia. Now, according to what says Air France, we can discuss from 5,000 euros. It’s dissuasive. It’s not even worth it.”
Martine would like to go to Japan, but there too, the journey takes two or three hours longer, since France and the European Union have decided to ban the overflight of Russian airspace: “Obviously, you need an additional pilot, more fuel. And the prices, that could increase, at least 20% more, I think”.
The rates also soar for Claudine and her beautiful tourist circuit, from Canada to the United States. She could not leave right away and she has to review her program: “For the same trip, it’s 300 euros more per person. So, we saw to do this same circuit, with the exception of one city, to stay within the budget”.
The demands are there for Lidl Voyages but they have changed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to Michel Biéro, executive director France of the tour operator: “We can speak of a shift in requests, more towards southern Europe and towards slightly sunnier countries: Cuba, the Caribbean, but also the United States, Spain. There have never been so many requests to go to Morocco as in recent weeks. There are between 20 and 30% more requests.”
“It is sure that Hungary, the Czech Republic, these are the countries that are less in demand today.”
Michel Biéro, Executive Director France of Lidl Voyagesat franceinfo
Most travel agencies are posting new rates. An additional ten euros per flight hour when the French began to book their holidays. Marianne Chandernagor, director of the tourism fair, notes a reluctance: “Things started up again very strongly in February. And there, it’s true that for three weeks, there has been a brake movement. The agencies are much less visited by travelers. They want to leave, they ask for quotes, but they find it difficult to confirm their trips right away.” There would already be a quarter of reservations less, according to travel agencies.