The Government Of Scotland Promised To Help

[IMG=20195-5974]On June 22nd the British Tourist Board VisitBritain organized a meeting of Russian tour operators with the Scottish authorities. Tatiana Koreshok, Marketing Manager of VisitBritain, commented on the current situation with the demand for Scotland as follows: ‘for the last ten years the tourist flow from Russian to Scotland has doubled. Average annual growth is 15%’. Meanwhile, the participants of the briefing pointed out three aspects that prevent the increase of tourist flow to the country. Firstly, there is no direct flight from Moscow to Edinburgh. At the moment Aeroflot, Transaero and British Airways operate daily flights to London. However, tour operators emphasize these flights are not convenient owing both a change of flights in London and the increase in a flight cost. However, at present only Transaero is interested in realisinf direct Moscow – Edinburgh flights. Thus, Irina Nikolaeva, Commercial Director of Transaero Tours (daughter company of Transaero), said: ‘three years ago the airline realized flights to Edinburgh. At the moment Transaero focuses mainly on flights by Boeing – 747, while a flight to Edinburgh should be operated by Boeing – 737. I believe, this problem will be solved by next summer’. Nevertheless, behind the scenes they say it is economically ineffective for Transaero to operate this flight owing still low demand for the destination to load flights. Secondly, since May when the Visa offices were introduced, tourist visa to Britain costs 3,500 rubles (about 100Euro), while a visa for students costs 5,100 rubles (about 150Euro). Thirdly, there is shortage of licensed Russian speaking guides in Scotland. At the moment there are only three of them while at least ten are necessary. Andrey Ignatiev, CEO of BSI Group, pointed out: ‘all guides must be accredited by Blue Badge Company, which is quite expensive – according to unaccredited sources, 10, 000 pounds. At the briefing Nicol Stephen, Prime Minister Deputy and the Minister of Education of Scotland emphasized the Scottish Government will support Russian tour operators, including lobbying the reduction of visa cost and licenses for Russian guides. He also stated that the Government of Scotland will partly bear expenses regarding the launch of Moscow-Edinburgh flight. ‘We are interested in the Russian market realizing its great potential’, said Stephen.