Tourism Cupids

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   On St. Valentine’s Day the Ministry of Culture of Italy decided to make a special present to all couples in love. Each couple could pay for only one ticket to enter all Italian museums together. Besides, on the tomb of a well-known priest a ceremony of engagement was held which also attracted many tourists. Furthermore, Russia could not afford to stand back from the romantic processes – State Travel Company Russia realized a special flight Moscow – St. Petersburg with ticket price being 1500 rubles instead of 3300 rubles.
   Travel market players interviewed by a BANKO correspondent did not have special St. Valentine’s Day offers for their clients: ‘they wouldn’t be special as we always make discounts for couples’, explained Marketing Director of Rosa Vetrov Travel Company, Natalia Rotmistrova. Travel companies themselves do not feel very enthusiastic about collective celebrations of St. Valentine’s Day. ‘It is a day for two therefore we did not have any special celebrations in the office, but we gave presents to each other to anticipate spring and to make everybody happy’, said Maria Malisheva, the Head of Advertising Department of PAC Group.
   While some tourists are enjoying pleasant surprises, others are experiencing losses. Thus, General Director of Arfa (Harp) Travel Agency, Mikhail Faber, said: ‘Our tourists were extra charged for St. Valentines Dinner, besides it happened in Sharjah, an emirate where dry law was adopted’.