The website of the Avia Voyages agency, located in Old Montreal, still displays a package for a cruise on the Volga, the longest river in Europe, between Moscow and Saint Petersburg. But the excursion will not take place.
The president of the agency, Irina Elsukova, had herself tested this stay in 2019 with a group of travel agents. It was the first time since 2009 that she had returned to her home country.
“It was really beautiful. Russia is a very beautiful, little-known destination, rich in culture and architecture,” says Mr.me Elsukova. “I’m going to have to update my site,” she laments, however.
Before the pandemic, individual and organized trips to Russia accounted for around 10% of its turnover. More generally, the countries of Eastern Europe, including Ukraine, were the destination of approximately 60% of its customers. Then, like most travel agencies, COVID-19 caused its sales to drop dramatically.
Mme Elsukova, however, found hope in the last few weeks, noting that the borders were opening rapidly everywhere. Until recently, she was still receiving calls from Canadians who wanted to know when it would be possible to visit Russia again. But the conflict in Ukraine has “ruined” his business.
“We completely lost this destination,” she says of Russia. Canadians’ fears will remain for quite some time. »
Currently, the federal government advises Canadians to avoid all non-essential travel to Russia, considering that their safety may be compromised.
Customers usually buy their tickets for summer stays in Europe already in winter. But not at this time. The majority of people are waiting to see how the situation develops in Ukraine, notes Mme Elsukova.
In the meantime, she and her four employed had to help customers who were stuck in Moldova due to the closure of the airspace of this country. Mme Elsukova said she has also booked plane tickets for people with Canadian visas or permanent residency who are in countries bordering Ukraine after fleeing the fighting.
“Earlier, I spoke with a girl, her parents went to Hungary. She asked that we take care of the tickets from Hungary to Montreal. There are some in Romania, in Turkey too, ”says Mme Elsukova, who intends to roll up her sleeves and develop a new offer for her business to survive.
Europe is less attractive
On the side of more general travel agencies, we note that the popularity of Russia as a tourist destination was already quite modest, being mainly visited as part of cruises. Voyages Constellation customers have already canceled their cruises, scheduled for the fall, which included stops in Saint Petersburg and Ukraine, according to the president of the company, Moscow Côté.
“Historically, we have seen that it took several years before the return of tourism to affected areas,” underlines Mr. Côté, who says that his first name comes from a fear of the Russians during the Cold War. “My mother thought that with a first name like Moscow, they would be nicer to me in case of conflict. »
The businessman, who is also president of the Association of Travel Agents of Quebec, notes that the climate of insecurity affects the popularity of destinations that go far beyond Eastern Europe. Germany and the Czech Republic, for example, could suffer. However, European countries are usually very popular in the summer.
Stéphane Corbeil, president of the Quebec regional council of the Association of Canadian Travel Agencies, also predicts that customers will continue to choose destinations far removed from the armed conflict. Luckily, sun destinations, especially in the Caribbean, are particularly popular at the moment. It’s a breath of fresh air after two lean years. Nevertheless, the war in Ukraine is cause for concern.
“It’s one more insecurity, another tile that could fall on the heads of travel agencies,” concludes Stéphane Corbeil.