[ad_1]
Vita, a guide who works in Egypt, says that after seeing the sea of blue sky and palm trees, Lithuanians even scoff at escaping from their homes and shed tears of joy. It is true that travelers are waiting for something new: a coronavirus test and a negative answer will be mandatory before returning home.
The blue sea, the sandy beach and the gentle breeze sound like the perfect vacation plan for people in quarantine. Longing for such images in the spring, even more Lithuanians flock to hot countries and in the spring choose sunny Egypt to travel. Vita, a guide who works there, shares the striking views from Hurghada. She says that her compatriots, having escaped the clutches of quarantine, simply cry when they find themselves in the blue sea.
“She is very happy, she is very happy. And I will definitely say such a thing, I even had to see tears of joy in the true sense of the word. Everyone longs for the sun, the sea and everything else, they are happy with this opportunity to finally come to rest in Egypt, to change the environment ”, says the guide Vita Kaušaitė.
Paul, a European fitness champion who recently returned from Egypt, says it felt like he was in an apocalyptic movie at the Hurghada hotel, as only a few dozen tourists were resting here.
“If the hotel has capacity for 700 people, and there are so many people that the staff probably even knew everyone’s names. There were very few of them, maybe 50 guests. I was looking for a quieter rest, but I did my best to be calm. It was completely empty, “says European fitness champion Paulius Ratkevičius.
True, Egyptian resorts and the depths of the Red Sea also attract Lithuanian diving enthusiasts. Lina, who recently returned from Tenerife, is already planning a trip to Hurghada. Lina, who works as a trainer, is convinced that it is possible to work remotely from anywhere in the world during the quarantine, especially since a two-week trip to Egypt cost her less.
In this case, the all-inclusive two-week trip costs around 600 euros. They have not been such prices for a long time. This led me to return to Tenerife to find out what was happening in the world ”, says coach Lina Smaidrytė.
Lithuanians who did not travel during the quarantine and saved money want to satisfy their hunger to travel. Tour operators are already planning additional flights, as the interest is huge. In the past, compatriots who traveled abroad on vacation 2 or 3 times a year, now rejoice after escaping to hot countries at least once after winter and spend more money on it.
“The hunger for travel is huge, the market activity is huge today and it has been sudden since the beginning of January, we noted. And the existing restrictions even encourage people to seek opportunities even under strict requirements: tests on departure, tests on arrival, self-isolation on return, ”said Audronė Keinytė, director of Novaturas Group.
According to tour operators, Lithuanians who are tired of quarantine want quality and comfortable holidays, so their duration has been significantly extended. A frequent compatriot chooses a few weeks of vacation on the Red Sea. Others buy a one-way ticket.
“People choose longer durations, it’s not just for a week, many choose for two weeks or more. More than 40 percent have opted for a vacation of 10, 11, 12 or even 14 nights “, says the head of marketing for Tez Tour.
Lithuanians in Egypt now more often choose more expensive high-class hotels by the sea with all-inclusive meals.
“Higher and better hotels are likely to provide stricter controls on security requirements. Also, people travel less, those vacations and their quality become very important to them,” says A. Keinytė.
And the tour operator Rimvydas Širvinskas is working and on vacation on an exotic island – the Maldives. Širvinskas confirms that Lithuanians spend more on travel.
“If a year ago travelers were planning to spend between € 400 and € 500 on a holiday to Egypt, now the most popular reservations are for hotels with a weekly holiday price of between € 600 and € 700. This means that we want higher quality, better service, better quality food and consequently accommodation ”, says Rimvydas Širvinskas, CEO of Makalius.lt.
According to Širvinskas, not only Egypt, but also Tenerife, Cape Verde and the Maldives remain one of the most popular holiday destinations for Lithuanians. With the quarantine relief, more and more vacation destinations are emerging.
Starting in April, tour operators will take their compatriots to sunny Turkey and Cyprus. Starting in May, it will be possible to choose Spain, Greece and Bulgaria. And so far, according to tour operators, the prices of spring destinations do not differ from last year, because hotels await tourists with open arms.
“The resorts and hotels themselves offer attractive travel deals to recover. In the same way, airlines are following our previous agreements. The prices of the spring destinations are very similar, “said I. Aukštuolytė.
It is true that innovators wait for travelers. After returning from a foreign country to Lithuania, compatriots will have to take a coronavirus test and give a negative answer. In Egypt, Turkey, such a test costs about 27 euros.
“As of March 10, the Government has introduced the requirement that all those who arrive or return to Lithuania have a negative result for the Covid-19 disease, which must be done at most 72 hours in advance,” says Ginreta Megelinskienė , advisor to the Department of Health Promotion.
Also, 10 days of self-isolation are mandatory when returning to Lithuania from all countries. It is true that it can be shortened after 7 days by retesting the coronavirus. However, a test of this type in our country is much more expensive than abroad: it costs about 70 euros.
[ad_2]
