2023-08-31 13:54:33
Svaboda talked with Belarusians who are connected with the tourism sphere, about the unprecedented influx of Russian tourists in Belarus.
“They are not being defiant”
Tour guide Matthew* (the names of the interlocutors have been changed for their safety. — RS), who organizes tours in the west of Belarus, said that there were always a lot of Russian tourists in Belarus, especially on long weekends: New Year, Victory Day.
“There were a lot of Russian tourists this year,” says Matvey.
These were both independent visitors and groups organized through Belarusian and Russian travel agencies, says the interlocutor. Their presence was especially felt in the center of cities.
“Obviously, there are more cars with Russian license plates in the center, one or two cars with Russian license plates at every parking lot near the hotels. Traditionally, all sanatoriums are occupied by Russians,” the interlocutor notes.
For example, in Hrodna, all hotels and sanatoriums are booked until the end of November, reported the state television channel of Hrodna.
According to Matvey’s observations, Russians of various status come to Belarus, they stay in luxury hotels and rented apartments.
“There is an impression that everyone has already gone, starting with a simple teacher from Belgorod and ending with the owner of a construction firm in St. Petersburg, who is actually a millionaire,” he sums up.
The tour guide distinguishes Russians simply on the streets by the specifics of the Russian language: Belarusians don’t speak like that.
“It feels that these people are there. The impression is that it is 50% of all, if you walk through the city center,” he suggests.
The representative of the tourism industry admits that, despite the stereotypes, he did not notice any excessive demands or arrogance in Russian tourists.
“I would say that they see the difference of Belarus and do not behave defiantly, on the contrary, they praise. I only had an unpleasant situation once. He was a man who was born in Belarus, but has been living in Russia for half a century. He asked strange questions. “Some colleagues told me that there are Russians who are crazy, supporters of the Z-ideology, but this is a very small percentage,” he says.
He himself saw several cars with “Z” stickers in Brest. This is explained by the fact that Russians go there with nostalgia for the Soviet era, for the sake of the Brest Fortress.
“Russians can experience various aspects in Belarus. You need a Soviet one – you go to Brest. We need a Soviet capital – you go to Minsk. You need European – you go to Hrodna, nature – you go to Białowieża Forest. “Mir, Nyasvizh must be watched,” he says.
According to Matvey, colleagues from the tourism sector do not have any special attitude towards Russian tourists.
“Russians do not differ, for example, from Poles in terms of their demands. At the same time, tourists from Lithuania and Latvia still come, a certain pro-Russian contingent goes. They behave most unpleasantly. They have both Latvian and Russian passports, they are “Russian with a mark of quality”, – the interlocutor thinks.
Tourists in Hrodna, archival photo
He is convinced that the difference between Russians is their income.
“Among the Russians, there are so many rich people that they have never come from Europe. They leave for tea, live in the most expensive hotels, hire expensive transport, take individual services,” says the tour guide.
In his opinion, there is no discomfort with visiting Russians because people who travel have a broader outlook.
“These are people who used to go to Finland, who saw the world. Naturally, they are calm. People with money, with looks, with a view. Some of them were without complaints this year. Maybe life just made them like that, the war,” Matvey shares his thoughts.
“What kind of letter ‘u’ do you have?”
Come on, who works in the service sector, also notices that there are more Russians in Belarus. This is evident at least from the fact that there are more people walking in the center, and a significant part of them are Russians. The woman distinguishes them by their speech, which is not similar to the way Belarusians speak Russian.
“Russians are interested in symbols of Belarusian culture: ornament, earring. “Maybe there is something related to potatoes?” They walk in red and green t-shirts. Somehow they were looking for t-shirts with national symbols, but we have different ones (state and historical. – RS), I almost got the wrong one,” recalls the interlocutor.
According to her observations, tourists from Russia always ask for discounts, while Belarusians rarely do so.
“I once saw a Russian man buy a magnet for 4 rubles and asked for a discount,” she says.
The woman speaks Belarusian. She says that sometimes she can see with her own eyes that the client does not know the Belarusian language, but she has never met a bad attitude towards her. There are people who fall in love with the Belarusian language, single out certain beautiful or interesting words for them.
“None of them have ever asked me to switch to the Russian language,” emphasizes the interlocutor.
Nastasya told how she had recently been involved in work with a family of native Muscovites. They began to speak to her in Shaka.
“The man shows me that he is reading Larisa Geniyush on the tablet. He doesn’t give his last name, because maybe he thinks it’s “extremism”, and there are a lot of people around him. He says: “I am reading your Zelven poet. I like her so much. “Confession” – what a work, what a martyr! He says that he has read two books by Karatkevich and Martynovich,” Nastasya recounts.
It turned out that the family became interested in Belarusian culture two years ago, after the protests, and they feel sorry for Belarusians.
“In the end, they told me: “Long live Belarus!”. I tell them: “Quiet, quiet!”. And they: “Don’t leave your Belarusian language!”, the woman recalls.
According to her, problem clients are very rare.
“Russian tourists do not say that Belarus is part of Russia. On the contrary, they single out Belarusian culture as separate. The man somehow asked: what kind of letter is that on you – “v”? I taught him how to pronounce, but he didn’t succeed, but then he bought a dozen souvenirs with “y”. I also saw a Russian woman in a t-shirt with a capital “U”, says a representative of the tourism sector.
According to her observations, 80% of the income per day in the souvenir shop is given by Russians who buy a lot at once. Belarusians usually buy some kind of cup or decoration.
Despite the fact that Russians make a significant contribution to Belarusian small business, some representatives of the tourism industry do not like them.
“We talked to colleagues about it. Everyone is biased. Poles and Lithuanians would be better. Let us have no profit, but it will not be the Russians, no matter how positive they are. All the same, they are Russians,” the interlocutor sums up.
Belarus has become the most popular destination for Russian tourists
In January-May 2023, the number of Russian tourists in Belarus increased by 173% compared to the corresponding period last year, the Ministry of Sports and Tourism of Belarus reported.
Belarus has become the most popular destination for Russian tourists, the Russian Federation of Tourism Industry said this year. Popular ways of recreation: health spa, short city tours and longer excursions, rest in hotels outside the city. In this sense, Belarus was ahead of Uzbekistan, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan. In Russia, the demand is explained by the restriction of air traffic with Europe.
According to the Republican Union of the Russian Tourism Industry, in 2022 Belarus will be visited by about one million tourists from Russia. A total of 1.4 million foreign tourists visited Belarus in 2022, the Ministry of Sports and Tourism of Belarus reported. The Deputy Minister of Sports and Tourism of Belarus, Oleg Andreichyk, reported that in 2022, Russians accounted for 96% of the total number of tourists visiting Belarus. In 2022, 540 thousand Russians were registered in Belarusian hotels, in 2021 – 200 thousand.
There were similar numbers in prehistoric times. For comparison, 190,000 organized tourists visited Belarus in 2017, the Association of Tour Operators of Russia reported. But the real number of “unorganized tourists” is many times greater. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus, more than a million Russians entered the country in 2017. In 2019, according to Belstat, more than 200,000 organized Russian tourists visited Belarus. During the coronavirus pandemic, the total number of foreign tourists in Belarus fell several times.
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