UZBEKISTAN: Uzbekistan Classified 5th Safest Country For Single tourists

The report was based on a survey of residents of 142 countries according to several criteria, among which were questions about how safe they feel when walking alone in the city at night, whether they trust the local police and whether they have been robbed or attacked.

Singapore has the highest security index (97 units). It is followed by Norway, Iceland and Finland, each with a safety index of 93 units.

According to the press service of the State Committee for Tourism of Uzbekistan, Uzbekistan ranked fifth in the ranking (91 units), followed by Hong Kong (91 units), Switzerland (91 units), Canada (90 units), Indonesia (89 units) and Denmark (88 units).

According to the legislation of the Republic of Uzbekistan foreign citizens and stateless persons can enter Uzbekistan or travel through its territory for transit on the basis of entrance visas only.

Foreign citizens and stateless persons can get visas at the diplomatic representations and consular missions of the Republic of Uzbekistan abroad on the basis of the visa support upon confirmation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

1. A bilateral visa-free regime has been established with Kyrgyzstan of up to 60 days, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine.

2. From February 10, 2018, a visa-free regime was introduced for 30 days period for citizens of 7 countries: Japan, Indonesia, Israel, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Turkey.

The visa-free regime applies to citizens of these countries, holders of all categories of passports - diplomatic, service and civil planning to visit the Republic of Uzbekistan for up to 30 days, regardless of the purpose of their trip.

In order to enter the country, a person must have a valid national passport or another substitute document used for travel to foreign countries.

The visa-free regime does not apply to stateless persons permanently residing in the territories of these countries.

Accordingly, the visa-free regime is valid for 30 days from the date of entry into Uzbekistan. Before the end of the 30-day visa-free stay period, a foreign citizen must leave the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Exceeding the 30-day visa-free stay is recognized as violation of the Rules of stay of foreign citizens in the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Accordingly, if it is necessary to stay in Uzbekistan for more than 30 days, a foreign citizen must obtain an entry visa to the Republic of Uzbekistan in accordance with the established procedure, corresponding to the purpose of his trip.

3. From February 10, 2018, simplified procedure for issuing tourist visas is introduced for citizens of 39 countries as listed below.

That implies getting visa within two working days, not counting the day of receiving documents, with the cancellation of the requirement to provide a tourist voucher or an inviting legal / physical person in the Republic of Uzbekistan to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Previously, the simplified procedure for issuing visas was available for citizens of Austria, Belgium, Great Britain, Germany, Spain, Italy, Latvia, France, Switzerland, Thailand, Czech Republic and Poland.

Tourists from these countries are given multiple-entry visas for up to 1 month, and representatives of the business community for up to 1 year, without requiring a tour voucher or an invitation from an inviting legal or physical person in Uzbekistan to the Uzbek Foreign Ministry.

Visas are issued within 2 working days, not counting the day of receipt of documents.

4. A visa-free regime is established with China, Hungary and Tajikistan (up to 30 days), Vietnam and the Republic of Korea (up to 60 days), Brazil, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Estonia, Kuwait and Turkey (up to 90 days).

Citizens of these countries who hold diplomatic passports and are accredited as employees of diplomatic missions or consular offices of their countries located on the territory of Uzbekistan, as well as members of their families have the right to enter and stay without visas for the entire period of work.

5. Uzbekistan and Japan issue visas without consular fees on the mutual basis.

6. According to the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan No.3836 of July 4, 2018 “On further measures for optimizing the order of entry of foreign citizens into the Republic of Uzbekistan” since July 15, 2018 these regulations are implemented:

- the system of issuing electronic entry tourist visas for foreign citizens, who enjoy a simplified procedure for issuing visa (list of countries is attached);

- short-term transit visa-free entry to the Republic of Uzbekistan for a period not exceeding five days for citizens of a number of countries (list of countries is attached). In this case the foreigners must transit through international airports of the Republic of Uzbekistan, provided they have an air ticket to a third country. This procedure applies transiting passengers wishing to explore the sights of Uzbekistan;

- visa-free entry to the Republic of Uzbekistan for foreign citizens up to 16 year old with biometric travel document. In this case they must be accompanied by legal representatives and they can stay in Uzbekistan for the duration of the visa of the accompanying person, but not more than ninety days since the date of entry into the country.

The list of countries whose citizens can enjoy simplified procedure for issuing tourist visa as well as on “e-visa.gov.uz”

1. Albania
2. Andorra
3. Australia
4. Austria
5. Belgium
6. Bosnia and Herzegovina
7. Bulgaria
8. Canada
9. China
10. Croatia
11. Czech Republic
12. Denmark
13. Estonia
14. Finland
15. France
16. Germany
17. Greece
18. Hungary
19. Iceland
20. India
21. Ireland
22. Italy
23. Kuwait
24. Latvia
25. Liechtenstein
26. Lithuania
27. Luxembourg
28. Macedonia
29. Malta
30. Monaco
31. Montenegro
32. Netherlands
33. New Zealand
34. Norway
35. Oman
36. Poland
37. Portugal
38. Romania
39. San Marino
40. Saudi Arabia
41. Serbia
42. Slovakia
43. Slovenia
44. Spain
45. Sweden
46. Switzerland
47. Thailand
48. United Arab Emirates
49. United Kingdom
50. United States of America
51. Vatican

The list of countries whose citizens can enjoy visa-free transit entry, stay up to 5 days

1. Albania
2. Algeria
3. Andorra
4. Antigua and Barbuda
5. Argentina
6. Australia
7. Austria
8. Bahamas
9. Bahrain
10. Barbados
11. Belgium
12. Belize
13. Bhutan
14. Bosnia and Herzegovina
15. Brazil
16. Brunei Darussalam
17. Bulgaria
18. Canada
19. Chile
20. China
21. Colombia
22. Costa Rica
23. Croatia
24. Cyprus
25. Czech Republic
26. Denmark
27. Dominica
28. Dominican Republic
29. Ecuador
30. Equatorial Guinea
31. Estonia
32. Fiji
33. Finland
34. France
35. Gabon
36. Germany
37. Greece
38. Grenada
39. Guatemala
40. Guyana
41. Honduras
42. Hungary
43. Iceland
44. India
45. Ireland
46. Italy
47. Jamaica
48. Kuwait
49. Latvia
50. Lebanon
51. Liechtenstein
52. Lithuania
53. Luxembourg
54. Macedonia
55. Maldives
56. Malta
57. Mauritius
58. Mexico
59. Monaco
60. Mongolia
61. Montenegro
62. Morocco
63. Nauru
64. Netherlands
65. New Zealand
66. Norway
67. Oman
68. Palau
69. Panama
70. Peru
71. Philippines
72. Poland
73. Portugal
74. Qatar
75. Romania
76. Saint Kitts and Nevis
77. Saint Lucia
78. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
79. San Marino
80. Saudi Arabia
81. Serbia
82. Seychelles
83. Slovakia
84. Slovenia
85. South Africa
86. Spain
87. Sri Lanka
88. Suriname
89. Sweden
90. Switzerland
91. Thailand
92. Trinidad and Tobago
93. Tunisia
94. Turkmenistan
95. United Arab Emirates
96. United Kingdom
97. United States of America
98. Uruguay
99. Vatican
100. Venezuela
101. Vietnam

The nationals of those countries which are not mentioned above should have a visa support - letter of invitation to obtain tourist visa to Uzbekistan.

Letter of invitation will be issued on the basis of visa application form and other documents submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan by our company on the behalf of the tourist.

The legislation of the Republic of Uzbekistan has set the following consular fees for the visa issuance:

a) For single entry visas:

· up to 7 days — $40;
· up to 15 days — $50;
· up to 30 days — $60;
· up to 3 months — $80;
· up to 6 months — $120;
· up to 1 year — $160.

Note: For each additional entry the fee shall be increased by $10.

b) For multiple entry visas:

· up to 6 months — $150;
· up to 1 year — $250.

c) For transit visas:

· up to 72 hours — $40;
· double entry transit visa — $50.

d) For group visas (groups must consist of more than 5 persons excluding children under 16 years old):

· up to 15 days — $15 per person;
· up to 30 days — $25 per person.

Except these fees the fees for reimbursement of actual expenses related to the visa issuance (administrative fees) will also be paid. The rates of these fees depend on the place of visa issuance (irrespective of applicant’s citizenship).

Note: Different procedure for issuance of entry visas may be applied to the citizens of those countries that have appropriate bilateral agreements with Uzbekistan.

Letter of Invitation to Uzbekistan (LOI)

To get a Letter of Invitation to Uzbekistan (LOI), please do the following:

- Fill out Uzbekistan Visa Support / Letter of Invitation (LOI) Form: Download Form

- Email us a good quality scan of your passport

- Email us a scan of an employment letter (retirees and housewives don't need it)

Flight tickets itinerary or flight reservation form is required only if visa is to be obtained on arrival at the International Airports of Uzbekistan.

Once we have received all above required documents and payment, we will submit your documents for approval by the Uzbek authorities. The approval period is about 3-5 working days.

Many travel agents "make" tourists to buy a tour package with a fixed itinerary. Our company doesn't "make" you do that.

Once your application is approved we will send you Visa Application Form and Letter of Invitation (LOI). As soon as you receive the papers you can apply for your Uzbek visa at the requested Embassy.

Why do 84% of tourists choose us?
Check mark Letter of invitation (LOI) without any extra services
Check mark The 2019 year's best price for Letter of invitation (LOI)
Check mark Reputation. We’re reliable, well known and people recommend us
Check mark 24 hour customer service
Check mark Instant answers to your questions
Check mark Big and professional team
Check mark Payment on arrival
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Cities and countries where an Uzbek visa can be obtained:
Abu Dhabi - The United Arab Emirates
Almaty - Kazakhstan
Ankara - Turkey
Ashkhabad - Turkmenistan
Athens - Greece
Baku - Azerbaijan
Bangkok - Thailand
Beijing - China
Berlin - Germany
Bishkek - Kyrgyzstan
Brussels - Belgium
Bukhara - Uzbekistan
Cairo - Egypt
Dubai - The United Arab Emirates
Dushanbe - Tajikistan
Frankfurt am Main - Germany
Islamabad - Pakistan
Istanbul - Turkey
Jakarta - Indonesia
Jeddah - Saudi Arabia
Kabul - Afghanistan
Kiev - Ukraine
Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia
Kuwait - Kuwait
London - The United Kingdom
Madrid - Spain
Mazare-Sharif - Afghanistan
Moscow - Russia
New Delhi - India
New York - The United States
Novosibirsk - Russia
Nukus - Uzbekistan
Paris - France
Riga - Latvia
Riyadh - Saudi Arabia
Rome - Italy
Samarkand - Uzbekistan
Seoul - South Korea
Shanghai - China
Singapore - Singapore
Tashkent Airport - Uzbekistan
Tashkent MFA - Uzbekistan
Tehran - Iran
Tel Aviv - Israel
Termez - Uzbekistan
Tokyo - Japan
Urgench - Uzbekistan
Vienna - Austria
Warsaw - Poland
Washington - The United States

- Children under 12 – half price.

- 10$ for each additional entry, double or triple entry visa.

- 100$ for visa extension up to 7 days - EXIT VISA.


Tourism Observer

UKRAINE: Wizz Air Starts Five New Routes from Ukraine

Wizz Air today announced that it will further expand its operations in Ukraine by adding a fourth Airbus A320 aircraft at its Kyiv base in March 2019, launching five long-awaited routes from Kyiv and Lviv airports and increasing the number of tickets offered with over 45% next year.

The new routes announced will operate from Kyiv to Breman, Billund and Riga and from Lviv to Copenhagen and Frankfurt Hahn and travelers can already book their tickets from just EUR 24.99 / UAH 759.

Today, Wizz Air also releases its 2019 summer schedule from Kyiv airport.

For the next two weeks the fares for the summer season, including the new routes will be exclusively available to WIZZ Discount Club members only, while from 13 September 2018, they will become available to everyone.

The new connections together with the weekly frequency increase on the popular service Kyiv- Lisbon are part of WIZZ’s 2018 summer schedule from Kyiv.

Wizz Air Routes From Ukraine

Tourism Observer

EUROPE: Some Dangerous Cities

Europe expereiences a high level of safety, violence does occur and patterns of where and when it does can appear.

This is measured from a city's its homicide rate, which is defined as the intentional death of a citizen at the hands of another citizen or citizens.

These rates are calculated to be per capita, so although one city may experience a higher number of murders than another, if their population is larger the murder rate will be lower as a result.

Areas such as Central and South America and Africa can see rates reaching 50 murders per 100,000 residents, and the homicide rate of the United States is around 5 per 100,000.

Tallinn, Estonia - 5.5 homicides per 100,000 people

Tallinn is a city in Estonia, situated on the northern coast of the country. With a relatively small population of 443,894, the city experienced 22 homicides in 2010, bringing its rate to 5.5 per 100,000.

This sits lower than the murder rate of Estonia that was calculated between 1999 and 2001, which was calculated as a high of 9.4 per 100,000 people.

The general trend appears to be that the homicide rate in Tallinn is decreasing, as 40 murders were reported in 2005, standing in contrast to 2010.

However, Tallinn's small population size, relatively large amount of murders per capita, and position on a continent where violent crime is highly uncommon gives it a place at the top of this list.

Glasgow, Scotland - 5.1 homicides per 100,000 people

Glasgow is the largest city of Scotland, located in the United Kingdom.

In 2010, the homicide rate of Glasgow was 5.1 per 100,000 residents, calculated from a total of 30 murders that were experienced in the city that year.

30 is a number that appears to be average for the number of violent deaths in Glasgow every year, a number that may be due to organized gangs and turf wars.

Vilnius, Lithuania - 4.7 homicides per 100,000 people

Vilnius is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, which is located in the Baltic states.

In 2010, Vilnius reported 26 crimes, producing a crime rate of 4.7 per 100,000 inhabitants.

This number was, however, actually a decrease from the crime rates experience prior to 2010, which reached a high in 2008 when 58 homicides were recorded resulting in a rate of 10.4 per 100,000 residents.

Despite these numbers of homicides that appear relatively high for Europe, visitors are still much more likely to encounter petty crime such as pickpocketing and credit card theft.

Moscow, Russia - 4.2 homicides per 100,000 people

Moscow is the capital of Russia and the largest city on the European continent with 12.2 million inhabitants.

It is a major cultural center of Europe and is located on the Moskva River.

In 2010, there were 483 homicides reported in Moscow, although this was a decrease from numbers seen in 2005, 2006 and 2007, where 766, 767, and 629 murders were reported respectively.

This decrease in murders may be a sign that violent crime in Moscow is decreasing, although other crime such as car theft remains a problem in this major city.

Podgorica, Montenegro - 3.5 homicides per 100,000 people

Podgorica is the largest city of Montenegro, as well as serving as the nation's capital. Between 1946 and 1992, when Montenegro was part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Yugoslavia), the city was known as Titograd.

In 2010, there were 7 deaths by homicide recorded in Podgorica.

This is a number that seems pretty on-trend for what is reported for Podgorica, although the year 2006 did see an influx of homicides, with 12 in the year bringing the homicide rate of the time up to 6.5 per 100,000 residents.

Belfast, Northern Ireland - 3.3 homicides per 100,000 people

Belfast is the largest city in Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom and located in the north of the island of Ireland.

In 2010, Belfast reported a homicide rate of 3.3, which was calculated from nine murders, given Belfast's relatively small population of 286,000.

This crime rate, however, is part of a trend in the lowering of homicides in Northern Ireland.

During the Troubles of the 1970s and 80s, the crime rate of Northern Ireland was closer to 31 per 100,000, which is similar to the homicide rate that could be found in Colombia or South Africa during the early 2010s.

Riga, Latvia - 3.3 homicides per 100,000 people

Riga is the largest city in Latvia, a country located in the Baltic states.

In 2010, there were 23 murders in the city, resulting in a homicide rate of 3.3.

Although the historic city is known to be relatively safe, public parks and the heavily-touristed Old Town are known to be areas where crime could be more likely to occur, although much of this may be petty crime such as pickpocketing.

2010, however, appears to have been slightly lower than what is average for Riga, as the years 2005-2009 each saw over 30 reported homicide incidents.

Kiev, Ukraine - 3.2 homicides per 100,000 people

Kiev is the largest city and capital of the Eastern European country of Ukraine. In 2010, 118 of Kiev's residents were victims of homicide, creating a murder rate of 3.2

This appears to be a number that is a somewhat annual average for Kiev, where murder rates are about 100 per year.

The public transit system, including suburban trains, have been singled out as potential hotbeds for violent crime in Kiev due to their tendency to be overcrowded and require repairs.

Zurich, Switzerland - 3.0 homicides per 100,000 people

Zurich is the largest city in the central European nation of Switzerland.

In 2010, there were 11 homicides reported in the city, which creates a murder rate of 3.0 when the city's low population of less than half a million is taken into consideration.

2010, however, does appear to be somewhat of an anomaly for this Swiss urban area, as both the years 2009 and 2011 saw only 4 and 1 murders, respectively.

Brussels, Belgium - 2.8 homicides per 100,000 people

Brussels is the largest city in Belgium, located in Western Europe.

It is also well known for being the capital of the European Union (EU).

In 2010, there were 31 murders in Brussels, a number that appears to be average for the city with the year 2008 being a slight exception when 44 homicides were reported.

In 2001, Brussels was the fourth most crime-ridden city in Europe, although this number also took into other crimes such as burglary and assault.




Tourism Observer

UAE: Flydubai Cuts Fares 50% To Attract Passengers

Budget carrier flydubai has slashed its fares across a number of routes, in an apparent bid to stimulate demand after the peak summer travel period, according to Gulf News.

The airline announced on Wednesday that it is offering up to 50 per cent discount on economy and business class seats for flights from Dubai to more than 80 destinations, including Prague, Maldives, Russia, Georgia, Thailand, India and Ukraine.

The sale has already kicked off and flyers have until midnight of September 26, 2017, to avail themselves of price cuts.

The discounted fares are for trips between September 15, 2017 and October 27, 2018.

From today until 26 September you can get big savings on fares. The earlier you book, the greater the discount, the carrier said.



Tourism Observer

UKRAINE: Odesa Airport Commences Construction Of New Runway

Construction of a new runway has commenced at Ukraine’s third largest airport, Odesa.

The the official ceremony took place on September 8.

The event has long been anticipated, as the airport hesitated to make the final decision whether to construct a new runway or repair the existing one.

Restrictions posed by the runway condition are impeding to unlock the full capacity of Odesa’s newly built passenger terminal.

The new runway will be 2,800 m long, same as the existing one.

There will be a new set of taxiways and ICAO Category IIIa landing equipment.

Whereas the existing runway’s strength limits it to serving aircraft up to Boeing 757 and Ilyushin Il-76. The new strip will be suitable for Boeing 767 and similar sized aircraft.

The date when the new runway is scheduled to become operational has not been disclosed.

The construction works started following the order of Ukraine’s government to allocate financing for the project in 2017.

The total cost of the project is estimated at 1.680 million hryvna ($63.7 million), but this year the government allocated 500 million hryvna under a state program for developing Ukrainian airports within the period until 2023.

According to the airport’s ex-director Vitaliy Portyanko, finding solution to the runway problem has been a burning necessity for a long time.

In particular, he mentioned the visibility restrictions in Odesa airport in the period from October until March with its typical dense fogs.

Absence of a modern runway is virtually wiping out the advantages of a freshly opened passenger terminal.

It has the annual capacity of 3 million passengers. The old terminal was working at the limits of its 1-million passenger capacity. Last year it handled its millionth passenger in mid-December.

Odesa is currently Ukraine’s third largest airport after Kyiv’s two airports, Boryspil and Zhulyany. But it has a high growth potential due to an Open Sky regime in effect since 2015.



Tourism Observer

HUNGARY: Activities At Budapest Airport

Having already confirmed 22 new routes during 2017, Budapest Airport’s largest airline will be significantly expanding its own operations from the Hungarian gateway this year. Adding 12 new links, the ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC) will offer 62 destinations from Hungary’s capital city airport, offering close to 4.5 million seats from Budapest throughout the year.

Launching the start of Budapest’s summer schedule, Wizz Air commenced its twice-weekly service to Faro on 1 April. Now offering 122,000 seats during S17 to Portugal, Budapest has witnessed a 140% increase in Portuguese services during the last twelve months. The ULCC faces no direct competition on its new service to the Algarve region as the link joins its existing operations to Lisbon and Porto.

Continuing to support the development of its home-base, Wizz Air has launched another two new services today. Reinstating Budapest’s direct link to Hannover with a four times weekly service, the new operation will satisfy the high volume of indirect traffic recorded from the region. The ULCC has also commenced its first direct flight to Norway from Hungary, starting its twice-weekly service to Bergen after increasing numbers of Hungarian travellers chose a Norwegian city break last year.

Later this week Budapest will welcome Wizz Air’s connection to Lamezia Terme. Seeing a rapid increase in the popularity of Italy as a leisure destination, the ULCC’s operation commencing 12 April, will be Budapest’s first direct link to the Italian city in the Calabria region.

Jost Lammers, CEO, Budapest Airport said: “The launch of Wizz Air’s latest links is a significant step in re-establishing good connections between Hungary and important economic destinations in the Balkan Peninsula. Working closely with Wizz Air we have ensured Budapest’s accessibility in the region, as well as further improving business relations between the countries.”

He added: “Wizz Air carried 3.3 million passengers on its Budapest routes last year and now, along with its latest additions to our network map, we look forward to ensuring the continued growth of
one of our largest airline partner’s services.”

Facing no direct competition on any of the routes, Budapest’s home-based carrier has launched twice-weekly services to each of the five Balkan Peninsula destinations seeing the Hungarian capital city grow its scheduled route network to 41 countries non-stop this summer.

Just days into S17, Budapest Airport has announced further expansion of its destination map, filling the white spot that was Kazakhstan. Confirming a twice-weekly service to Astana, Wizz Air will be linking the two capital cities from 8 June, utilizing the carrier’s fleet of 180-seat A320s on the 3,742 kilometer sector.

As Kazakhstan becomes Budapest’s 45th country market, the Central Asian operation means Wizz Air will now offer flights to 29 countries from its home-base. As the world’s youngest capital city, Astana can now be reached from Budapest in less than five hours as the ultra-low-cost-carrier’s (ULCC) direct link omits the previous need for connections via Istanbul, Prague or Minsk. Facing no direct competition on the airport pair, the ULCC’s new Kazakhstan connection joins the Hungarian gateway’s existing links in the region to Georgia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.

“Filling another gap on our route map is proof of our continued commitment to be able to offer our passengers an ever-expanding selection of great destinations,” comments Balázs Bogáts, Head of Airline Development, Budapest Airport. “Wizz Air’s confirmation of Thursday and Sunday flights is perfect for a long weekend break for Hungarian and Kazakh travelers alike,” adds Bogáts.

Budapest Airport has announced further development in its expanding summer schedule with another welcome frequency increase on Air Canada rouge’s link to Toronto Pearson. Announcing just last November that the Canadian leisure carrier would be expanding its existing three times weekly operation from 19 May, three weeks earlier than 2016, the airline has confirmed the frequency will now be doubled during the peak season, commencing a six times weekly service from 21 June.

Experiencing a highly successful first year of operation, Air Canada rouge’s additional seasonal connections will mean Budapest’s weekly Canadian capacity will increase by another 20%, seeing an extra 7,300 seats to Canada during high summer. The airline’s additional services throughout S17 will give Air Canada rouge a 50% year-on-year capacity increase.

Commenting on the frequency increase, Jost Lammers, CEO, Budapest Airport, says: “Being able to announce yet more capacity on our Canadian link, and still less than a year after welcoming the Air Canada brand into our portfolio, is a great sign of the significant success the airline has experienced with us.” He added: “We continue to commit ourselves to offering a series of North American connections, in both business and leisure sectors, and these extra services will satisfy real demand.”

KAZAKHSTAN: Visa Requirements Lifted For European Union, OECD Countries,Malaysia, Monaco, UAE,Singapore

Kazakhstan has lifted visa requirements for citizens of the European Union, OECD countries and a number of other states as part of efforts to boost investment and tourism.

The measure adopted earlier by neighboring Uzbekistan comes as Kazakhstan as Central Asia’s largest economy has been battered by low oil prices and financial distress in neighboring Russia.

According to Kazakhstan’s foreign ministry, since the beginning of 2017, citizens of EU and OECD countries, as well as Malaysia, Monaco, the United Arab Emirates and Singapore, could travel to Kazakhstan for up to 30 days without a visa.

In a statement, the ministry said the initiative was meant to promote an even more favorable investment climate and develop the country’s tourism potential.

The move will open up additional opportunities to the business community for cooperation with the outside world and facilitate international contacts in different spheres, the statement said.

Kazakhstan’s landscape is dotted with mountains, lakes and desert, and the glitzy capital Astana is home to futuristic architecture.

Back in December, neighboring Uzbekistan announced plans to roll back its highly restrictive tourism regime by canceling visa requirements for 15 countries.

In addition, Budapest Airport has announced further expansion of its destination map, filling the white spot that was Kazakhstan.

Confirming a twice-weekly service to Astana, Wizz Air will be linking the two capital cities from 8 June, utilizing the carrier’s fleet of 180-seat A320s on the 3,742 kilometer sector.

As Kazakhstan becomes Budapest’s 45th country market, the Central Asian operation means Wizz Air will now offer flights to 29 countries from its home-base.

As the world’s youngest capital city, Astana can now be reached from Budapest in less than five hours as the ultra-low-cost-carrier’s (ULCC) direct link omits the previous need for connections via Istanbul, Prague or Minsk.

Facing no direct competition on the airport pair, the ULCC’s new Kazakhstan connection joins the Hungarian gateway’s existing links in the region to Georgia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.

Filling another gap on our route map is proof of our continued commitment to be able to offer our passengers an ever-expanding selection of great destinations, comments Balazs Bogats, Head of Airline Development, Budapest Airport.

Wizz Air’s confirmation of Thursday and Sunday flights is perfect for a long weekend break for Hungarian and Kazakh travelers alike,adds Bogats.

MOLDOVA: Air Moldova Expands With Another Embraer E190,Wizz Air Opens Presence In Moldova

Air Moldova has taken delivery of another Embraer E190 regional jet. The aircraft with the seating capacity for 140 passengers was ferried to Air Moldova’s base airport in Chisinau on November 20, the carrier announced. In line with the carrier’s strategy the aircraft should enable the airline to launch flights to new destinations. Its first flight will be from Moldovan capital to Rome.

With this aircraft, Air Moldova’s fleet now has three Embraer E190s. The latest addition is the aircraft produced in 2009 and previously operated by Lufthansa and Turkish BoraJet. According to open sources the aircraft is a long-range (LR) modification and has tail number ER-ECD.

Notably, Air Moldova is among the world’s leading operators of ERJ190 by flight hours. In August 2016 it demonstrated the best results in terms of operating rate. The average monthly flight hours increased almost 80% compared to July, to 15.18 flight hours per day.

Air Moldova currently operates seven aircraft. Besides the three Embraer E190LRs the airline flies an Airbus A321, two A320s and one A319. The carrier’s route network features over 25 destinations, including Greece, Turkey, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Ireland, Germany, the Great Britain and Portugal. It two destinations in Russia are St. Petersburg and Moscow, and a route to Krasnodar is expected to open next year.

Last year Air Moldova’s passenger traffic for the first time exceeded 1 million passengers. Suspension of air connection between Russia and Ukraine greatly contributed to the carrier’s traffic growth.

Hungarian low-cost carrier Wizz Air will launch a new base at Chisinau Airport, Moldova, from March 2017. The airline has recently opened a base in Kutaisi, Georgia, and is looking into strengthening its presence in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet republics further on.

The airline announces Chisinau will be its 26th base while Moldova will become the 14th country where Wizz Air performs base operations.

The flights from Chisinau will be operated by a single narrow-body A320. Starting from March 2017 the airline will launch two new twice-weekly services to Berlin Schoenefeld and Barcelona.

Considering these new destinations, Wizz Air’s route network from Chisinau will consist of seven routes to four countries.

The company will also increase frequencies on existing routes to Bologna and Venice from two to three and from three to four weekly flights correspondingly.

Wizz Air plans to invest 98 million dollars in the new Chisinau base and hire 36 people as crew members.

Within the post-Soviet area the Hungarian low-cost company performs base operations from Kutaisi (Georgia), Kyev (Ukraine), Vilnus (Lithuania) and Riga (Latvia).

BELARUS: Belavia Surpasses Traffic Targets

In 2016, Belarus’ national carrier, Belavia, outperformed its passenger traffic target. Its traffic growth hit 19.1% compared to the previous year, to 2.5 million passengers, according to the country’s Transport and Communications Ministry.

Last March Belavia’s general director Anatoliy Gusarov forecasted that the annual growth would be within 13-15%.

The main growth driver is the increasing transit traffic between Russia and Ukraine, which suspended direct air connection in 2015.

The growing significance of the transit flow through Belarus is undermined by the fact that the share of transfer traffic through Minsk last year increased from 36.6% to 40%.

The total traffic through the country's airports at the end of 2016 stood at 3.5 million passengers, up 22.2% yea-on-year. It's safe to assume that contribution of regional airports (Brest, Gomel, Mogilev, Vitebsk and Grodno) was insignificant.

In 2015 they handled just 92,000 passengers.

Belavia's development strategy is aligned with the growing transfer flows.

According to the ministry, the number of flights between Minsk and Kyiv, Lviv and Odesa all three in Ukraine, Almaty in Kazakhstan, Ashgabad ,Turkmenistanand Batumi,Georgia increased noticeably.

New destinations to Palanga in Lithuania and Zhukovsky in Russia are also gaining traction.

Cargo volumes carried by Belarusian airlines increased by 68.7% to 48,200 tons.

But considering that cargo traffic handled within the country stood at just 17,300 tons (up 3.4% year-on-year), the major part of the reported cargo was carried outside Belarus.

There are five airlines registered in Belarus that focus entirely or mostly on cargo- Grodno, Transaviaexport, Rada, Genex and Rubistar.

INDONESIA: Kenya Among Indonesia’s Visa-free Partners In Travel Targeting 20 Million Tourists

Kenyans are free to travel to Indonesia without tourist visas, according to the latest directive issued by the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Indonesian government has offered visa-free travel for a group of countries including Kenya, hoping to pull in more numbers and boost its faltering tourism sector.

So far, tourists from 174 countries no longer need visas to enter the Asian nation. The latest group of countries offered the facility include Australia, Brazil, Ukraine, Kenya, Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Palestine, Honduras, and Pakistan.

Others are Mongolia, Sierra Leone, Uruguay, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Costa Rica, Albania, Mozambique, Macedonia, El Salvador, Zambia, Moldova, Madagascar, Georgia, Namibia, Kiribati, Armenia, Bolivia, Bhutan, Guatemala, Mauritania, and Paraguay.

“Offering visa-free travel is one of the easiest ways to boost tourist numbers,” Indonesian Tourism minister Arief Yahya was quoted as saying by the country’s local media.

Indonesia is known for its volcanic islands and scenic beaches. The country hopes to chalk up 20 million foreign tourists in 2019, doubling the 2015 record.

Visa-free travel will only be available through five international airports in Jakarta, Medan, Batam, Bali and Surabaya, and would come with tighter monitoring to minimise misuse of the facility, an Indonesian government official has said, adding foreign tourists found smuggling illegal goods, such as drugs, would face serious penalties.

The country’s President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has repeatedly said the visa-free travel is offered to boost the country’s tourism industry.

Kenya and Indonesia enjoy cordial relations and have had diplomatic ties since 1982. Diplomatic ties between the two countries began in July 1979, and in April 1982 Indonesia opened an Embassy in Nairobi.

The Kenyan High Commission in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is accredited to Indonesia and In April, 2015 the Government of Kenya appointed Mr Bilal Asif as the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Kenya to Indonesia.

Foreign Affairs secretary Amina Mohamed said recently Kenya is seeking to forge a strong partnership with the two countries.

“Kenya considers Indonesia an important partner and has identified and expressed interest in opening a mission in your country. In the meantime, Mr Bilal Asif was appointed as the Honorary Consul of Kenya early last year and we hope that the Government of Indonesia is granting him the necessary support to carry out his mandate,” said Ms Mohamed.

She spoke in Nairobi during the farewell lunch in honour of Mr Sunu Soemarno, who was the outgoing Indonesian ambassador in early 2016. She said: “Kenya, like Indonesia, is outward looking to have a diversified and growing economy that creates a lot of opportunities. We look forward to the review of the JCC that was signed on 3rd December, 2008. I believe this will bring on board new areas for co-operation between Kenya and your great country.”

The countries have signed bilateral agreements for co-operation in various fields, notable among them the agreement on economic, scientific, technical and cultural co-operation signed in Nairobi on September 2, 1992, an MOU on establishment of Joint Commission signed on June 19, 2008.

The two nations also signed Agreed Minutes for Joint Commission for Co-operation signed on 3rd December, 2008 besides Bilateral Air Services Agreement signed in 2007 and an MoU on Fisheries Co-operation signed in 2009.

According to the Export Promotion Council, the bi-lateral trade between Kenya and Indonesia is heavily in favour of Indonesia, with the trade balance rising from $272.6 million in 2007 to $327.3 million in 2009 and $491.4 million in 2011.


Kenya’s exports to Indonesia amounted to $24.9 million and accounted for only 0.4 per cent of Kenya’s total exports in 2011.

The exports to Indonesia fluctuated over the period between 2007 and 2011 and the export products included soda ash, black tea, tobacco and products, sheep skin leather and dried leguminous vegetables. Imports from Indonesia amounted to $516.3 million in 2011 and accounted for 3.4 per cent of Kenya’s total imports.

The main import products include crude palm oil, industrial chemicals, refrigerator, yarns, natural rubber and paper and paperboard.

UZBEKISTAN: Ukraine And Uzbekistan To Resume Tashkent – Kyiv Flights

The aviation authorities of Uzbekistan and Ukraine plan to hold talks in Tashkent on the resumption of regular flights on the Tashkent-Kyiv-Tashkent route, the press service of Uzbekistan’s Embassy in Ukraine said.

Uzbekistan’s Ambassador to Ukraine Alisher Abdualiyev noted that the last Tashkent-Kyiv-Tashkent flight was conducted in May 2015.

“Since then we have not had regular flights on this route, which affected the volume of mutual trade and the development of international tourism. As we can see, the lack of air communication between the two capitals leads to the loss of potential revenues for the both sides. At the same time, air carriers of third countries get additional advantage in this situation,” the ambassador said.

According to Abdualiyev, as the result of the meetings held in the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the State Aviation Service of Ukraine, the negotiations between the aviation authorities of the two countries have been scheduled for the beginning of 2017 in Tashkent.

“It is too early to speak about any results, there are a number of unresolved issues, but there is a hope that the parties will soon find a compromise that takes into account, first of all, needs and interests of the civilian population, as well as business circles of the two countries,” the ambassador said.

In 2013, Uzbekistan Airways, the national airline of Uzbekistan, planned to stop regular flights on the Tashkent-Kyiv-Tashkent route. It explained that the reason for the flight cancellation could be a conflict with UIA, which it said was exerting pressure on its Uzbek partners, involving the aviation authorities and diplomats in order to get specific slots (permits to fly on certain days and certain time) of Tashkent International Airport. UIA denied this, saying that it was ready for cooperation.

In mid 2014, Uzbekistan Airways and UIA agreed to enter into an interline agreement on mutual recognition of traffic documents, as well as a code-sharing agreement, joint operation of the same flight.

In May 2015, Uzbekistan Airways again temporarily suspended Tashkent-Kyiv-Tashkent flights in the absence of the agreement between the aviation authorities of Uzbekistan and Ukraine concerning the operation of the agreed services.

Later, the then Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine, Andriy Pyvovarsky, expressed hope that the issue of flights on the Kyiv-Tashkent route will be resolved.

In September 2015, Uzbekistan Airways closed its office in Kyiv.

UZBEKISTAN: Ukraine And Uzbekistan To Resume Tashkent – Kyiv Flights

The aviation authorities of Uzbekistan and Ukraine plan to hold talks in Tashkent on the resumption of regular flights on the Tashkent-Kyiv-Tashkent route, the press service of Uzbekistan’s Embassy in Ukraine said.

Uzbekistan’s Ambassador to Ukraine Alisher Abdualiyev noted that the last Tashkent-Kyiv-Tashkent flight was conducted in May 2015.

“Since then we have not had regular flights on this route, which affected the volume of mutual trade and the development of international tourism. As we can see, the lack of air communication between the two capitals leads to the loss of potential revenues for the both sides. At the same time, air carriers of third countries get additional advantage in this situation,” the ambassador said.

According to Abdualiyev, as the result of the meetings held in the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the State Aviation Service of Ukraine, the negotiations between the aviation authorities of the two countries have been scheduled for the beginning of 2017 in Tashkent.

“It is too early to speak about any results, there are a number of unresolved issues, but there is a hope that the parties will soon find a compromise that takes into account, first of all, needs and interests of the civilian population, as well as business circles of the two countries,” the ambassador said.

In 2013, Uzbekistan Airways, the national airline of Uzbekistan, planned to stop regular flights on the Tashkent-Kyiv-Tashkent route. It explained that the reason for the flight cancellation could be a conflict with UIA, which it said was exerting pressure on its Uzbek partners, involving the aviation authorities and diplomats in order to get specific slots (permits to fly on certain days and certain time) of Tashkent International Airport. UIA denied this, saying that it was ready for cooperation.

In mid 2014, Uzbekistan Airways and UIA agreed to enter into an interline agreement on mutual recognition of traffic documents, as well as a code-sharing agreement, joint operation of the same flight.

In May 2015, Uzbekistan Airways again temporarily suspended Tashkent-Kyiv-Tashkent flights in the absence of the agreement between the aviation authorities of Uzbekistan and Ukraine concerning the operation of the agreed services.

Later, the then Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine, Andriy Pyvovarsky, expressed hope that the issue of flights on the Kyiv-Tashkent route will be resolved.

In September 2015, Uzbekistan Airways closed its office in Kyiv.

THAILAND: Thailand Doubles Visa-on-arrival For 18 Countries

The new charge will come into effect on 27 September, and apply to the citizens of all 18 countries offered visa-on-arrival in Thailand. These include China, India, Taiwan and Saudi Arabia.

The newspaper reported the Thai Foreign Ministry as saying that the decision to implement a 100% increase was based on the belief that the current charge is lower than the visa fees paid by Thai tourists visiting other countries.

The timing of the decision is not ideal however; Thailand’s tourism authorities are working hard to encourage international travellers not to cancel their trips to the kingdom, following the recent bombings in several resort areas. The reason for the attacks is still unclear.

The other countries offered visa-on-arrival to Thailand are Bulgaria, Bhutan, Cyprus, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Romania, San Marino, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

POLAND: Wizz Air Commences 2 New Poland Flights

Wizz Air today announced further expansion of its route network from Poland. From 1 November Wizz Air will start operating a new route from Wroclaw to the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv with two weekly flights, while from 14 January a new weekly WIZZ service will connect Gdansk with Grenoble in France. Tickets one the new routes starting at EUR 19.99 / PLN 79.

The newest WIZZ services connect Poland with such exciting destinations as Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, Reykjavik in Iceland, Porto in Portugal or Alghero on the island of Sardinia.

Gabor Vasarhelyi, Communications Manager at Wizz Air said: “Following the recent celebration of the 45 millionth Poland WIZZ passenger, we are thrilled to deliver again great news to our Polish customers. Our low fares now connect Wroclaw with the capital and largest city of Ukraine, Kyiv and Gdansk with the ‘capital of the Alps’, Grenoble, and we are sure these services will be as popular as the other 131 in our ever growing Poland route network. Seats on the newest WIZZ routes are already on sale from just PLN 79 / EUR 19.99 at wizzair.com. Our friendly Polish crew looks forward to welcoming you on board a WIZZ flight with a smile!”

TUNISIA: Very Happy With Increased Tourists

Tunisia’s tourism businesses recorded increased amount of visitors. Experts view it as a sign of a recovery coming a year after the terrorist attack in Sousse which led to the death of 38 foreign tourists, mainly British.

The latest figures by Sojern, an independent company specialized in travel research, indicate that Tunisia’s tourism numbers increased by 10% in July.

This news however comes in a context marked by the extension of the state of emergency in the country and the continuation of the travel warning released by the British Foreign Office.

For many months, following the decision of the tour operators to suspend their activities at the airports of Monastir and Enfidha, only the national airline Tunis Air provides connections between London and Tunis.

The data from Sojern show that, because of the terrorist attacks of last year, there has been an overall decline in global intentions to travel to destinations such as Tunisia (drop down 9%), Egypt (less than 15%) and Turkey (less than 14%).

However, despite this general downward trend in world travel, tourists from the United Kingdom seem to have decided in July to explore Tunisia.

In light of this "indiscipline" of the British tourists, Sojern’s report warns the European travel industry: "Marketers should take into account this disobedience of tourists and changes in the market trends of Middle East. The fact is that it is undeniable that the United Kingdom nationals retain a strong interest in journeys in this part of the world. Certainly, political instability and insecurity in this region can influence the travelling intentions of the British citizens, but doesn’t exaggerate the impact," concluded the study by Sojern.

Tunisia’s tourism is however still struggling. The revenues were down 44.6% from January to May 2016 in comparison to the same period of 2015, totaling USD 256.2 million, according to the Ministry of Tourism. The non-resident visitors in the country amounted to 1.19 million from January to May, a decrease of 24.2% over the same period of last year.

According to Houssem Ben Azouz, president of the Inter-Professional Federation of Tourism (FIT), the European markets remain down with the exception of Eastern Europe, especially Ukraine and Russia.

The Russian market grew 649% from January to May to the same period last year, contributing 74,415 tourists. Russia is in second place among European markets, following France, which sent 115,752 tourists to Tunisia as the top source, a decline of 36.4% in the same comparison. The Russian market is estimated to generate between 500,000 to 1 million tourists per year, said FIT’s president. Around USD 2.2 million were invested in marketing campaigns of Tunisia’s tourism in Russia.

“For this season, the solution lies in the domestic market and in the neighboring Algeria (415,253 visitors from January to May). The important thing is to begin now to prepare ourselves for 2017, to secure the revival of tourism in Tunisia,” said Ben Azouz.

Sex Tourism Spreads And Booms

Portugal, Moldova and Ukraine in Europe, and Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam in Asia have emerged as new child sex tourism destinations, prompting activists to call for governments to include measures to protect children in their tourism plans.

Sex tourism has spread around the world to countries that were previously inaccessible as tourism has boomed over the past 20 years and travelling has become cheaper, said a study published on Thursday by global child protection network ECPAT.

The number of international tourists almost doubled from 527 million in 1995 to 1.14 billion in 2014, it said.

In Asia, Thailand´s efforts to clean up its image as a sex tourism destination and crack down on the crime, has had the unintended effect of pushing sex tourists to Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, it said.

In Europe, Moldova, Portugal and Ukraine have emerged as new sex tourism destinations.

"Many of these countries which are starting to open up - understandably they see tourism as a fantastic economic development sector," Mark Capaldi, ECPAT´s head of policy and research, said.

He said countries looking for economic opportunities from tourism often ignore the risks that some international tourists pose to children and lack the laws to protect them.

Countries need to assess the impact of tourism development projects from a child protection perspective before rushing into them, he said.

"It´s much more difficult to claw back and change the reputation of a place if it becomes seen as a hotbed of child sex tourism," Capaldi said in a phone interview.

The study said a lack of data makes it difficult to assess the scale of global child sex exploitation but the crime has outpaced attempts to curb it over the past two decades.

Capaldi said the growth in online bookings and private rental accommodation has contributed to the spread of sex tourism as this has made it easier for perpetrators to remain anonymous.

The study said children from minority groups, boys and young children are far more vulnerable to sex tourism than was previously thought, as are girls and children living in poverty.

Its recommendations include creating support systems for child victims of sex exploitation in all countries, curbing the online sale of children for sex, and creating systems to enable law enforcement agencies to share information about offenders.

Cheap Flights And Internet Encouraging Sex Tourism

Sex Tourism has “expanded” into new destinations across the world, claims a new report, which blames cheap flights and the Internet for creating a new generation of predators.

Opportunities for travellers to abuse women and children have “soared” in the past two decades, the Global Study on Sexual Exploitation of Children in Travel and Tourism said.

The report, which is considered the most comprehensive ever compiled on the sex tourism industry, also identifies countries which have emerged as new destinations for abusers.

These include Portugal, Moldova and the Ukraine in Europe, and also Burma, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia in Southeast Asia.

The report also said sex tourists are no longer being seen as wealthy, middle aged Westerners who travel to underdeveloped countries to seek children to abuse.

The UN-backed study says abusers are also often not tourists, but could be business travellers or expatriates who are ‘situational’ offenders, rather than paedophiles.

The study says the growth in opportunities for the abuse of children and women is directly linked to the boom in travel and the wider use of the Internet.

“The vulnerability of children has increased dramatically in the past 20 years as travel, tourism soared,” the report said.

“Although the precise scope is not yet measurable, there are alarming indicators that this crime is persistent and widespread.

“The Global Study has also demonstrated, undeniably, that the increasing use
 of the Internet has enabled offenders to groom children online, exchange information and advice on how to abuse children and avoid detection, and in some cases ‘book’ children in advance.”

The report, which was released by global child protection network ECPAT, charts the increase in sex tourism over the last two decades.

It was compiled with information from more than 70 global child protection agencies.

“Twenty years ago the offender was seen as a white, wealthy, middle-aged male peadophile from a developed country vacationing in a developing country with the intention of having sex with a child,” it adds.

“Now we understand that more children are being abused by tourists and travellers from their own country or region than by people who have travelled
 from other parts of the world.”

The report notes, for example, that Japanese, Chinese and South Korean tourists are now more likely to be offenders in Southeast Asia – a traditional sex tourism hotspot – because they travel through the region more regularly than Westerners.

The number of international tourists almost doubled from 527 million in 1995 to 1.14 billion in 2014, the report said.

“Despite 20 years of efforts, the sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism has expanded across the globe and out-paced every attempt to respond at the international and national level,” it added.

IATA Happy With Fewer Plane Accidents

Last year, more than 3.5 billion people flew safely on 37.6 million flights worldwide, of which 31.4 million flew by jet and 6.2 million by turboprop.

The airline industry registered a total of 136 fatalities in 2015, versus 641 fatalities in 2014. The five-year average came up to 504 killed. Including those who lost their lives in Germanwings 9525 and Metrojet 9268, last year averaged 510 fatalities.

Overall, the airline industry registered one major accident for every 3.1 million flights worldwide in 2015 – a hull loss of 0.32 per cent per million flights – not as good as the 2014 rate of 0.27 but a 30% improvement compared to the previous five-year (2010-2014) rate of 0.46 hull loss accidents per million jet flights.

This was the data which the International Air Transport Association (IATA) released yesterday on the safety performance of the commercial airline industry last year.

“In terms of the number of fatal accidents, 2015 was an extraordinarily safe year,” remarked, IATA’s Director General and CEO Tony Tyler.

Last year, four accidents resulted in passenger fatalities, all of which involved turboprop aircraft, with 136 killed. This compares with an average of 17.6 fatal accidents and 504 fatalities per year in the previous five-year period (2010-2014).

The 2015 jet hull loss rate for members of IATA was 0.22, or one accident for every 4.5 million flights, which outperformed the global rate by 31% and which was in line with the five-year rate (2010-2014) of 0.21 per million flights but above the 0.12 hull loss rate achieved in 2014.

The loss of Germanwings 9525 due to pilot suicide and Metrojet 9268 due to suspected terrorism resulted in the deaths of 374 passengers and crew. However, they were not included in the accident statistics as they are classified as deliberate acts of unlawful interference.

Accidents are gathered using multiple sources and validated and classified by the Accident Classification Task Force (ACTF). The task force is comprised of industry safety experts and managed by IATA.

All regions, except North America, saw their safety performance improve in 2015 compared to the respective five-year rate 2010-2014. Africa registered 3.49 jet hull loss compared to a five-year rate of 3.69.

Asia Pacific recorded a 0.21 jet hull loss from 0.56 in the comparative period, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) composed of ten former Soviet Republics–Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan, registered 1.88 compared to 3.14 before; Europe, 0.15 versus 0.18; Latin America and the Caribbean, 0.39 compared to 0.92; Middle East-North Africa, zero versus 1.00; North America, 0.32 compared to 0.13 and North Asia, 0.00 compared to a 0.06

TURKEY: Antalya Records Less Russian Tourists With 81% Decrease

The number of Russian tourists visiting Turkey’s top holiday resort town of Antalya decreased by 81 percent, as their numbers plummeted to 2,427 in January from 12,870 of January 2015 while the total number of tourists visiting the city in January decreased 17 percent, according to official figures.

Numbers also showed that only a total of 97,601 tourists visited Antalya in January, the lowest for January in the last decade.

Antalya hosted some 135,010 tourists in January 2006 and 125,446 in January 2007. It saw its highest turnout in January 2008 with 140,306. In January 2009 and January 2010, Antalya received 106,539 and 140,019 visitors, respectively. After 2010, the number of tourists visiting the city reached a stable level, with 126,272 tourists in January 2011, 122,314 in January 2012, 111,485 in January 2013 and 116,974 in January 2014. Last January, Antalya’s total visitors stood at 117,746.

Antalya gathers millions of local and international tourists each year, with its luxury hotels usually overbooked especially in the summer seasons. Meanwhile in winter, tourism slows down due to dropping temperatures.

The Russian market experienced the largest decrease in the number of tourists visiting the city in January 2016, as Russia ranked 5th in 2016, compared to 2nd in 2015 in terms of countries with the highest number of visitors to Antalya.

Turkey was Russia’s number one foreign tourism destination for years but this came to an abrupt end following the shooting down of a Russian military plane by Turkish jets on the Syria-Turkey border on Nov. 24, 2015. Upon the incident, Russia imposed economic sanctions against Turkey and travel restrictions on Russian tourists visiting Turkey.

Turkey’s tourism industry also expects to see losses in other markets this year after an Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) suicide bomb attack in Istanbul’s top tourist spot Sultanahmet, which killed 11 German tourists on Jan. 12, highlighted security concerns for tourists planning to visit Turkey.

The loss in the German market stood at 16 percent as the number of Germans visiting Antalya decreased to 44,262 in January 2016 from 52,731 in January 2015. While Germans took the top spot for tourists in Antalya, the Dutch followed second. However the Dutch market has also decreased by 20 percent compared to 2015, as this year’s January number fell to 4,544 from 5,688.

The number of Israeli visitors saw a 122 percent increase, bringing it to third. In January 2016, the number of Israeli tourists visiting the city reached to 4,475, a huge leap from 2,008 visitors in January 2015.

Britain came fourth with a 14 percent decrease as Antalya only hosted some 2,965 English tourists in January. British tourists mostly like Antalya for its luxury golf club resorts in the Belek region of the province.

According to the statistics of Antalya’s provincial directorate of culture and tourism, among the 38 countries that send tourists to Antalya, only nine surpassed their January 2015 numbers. However, the surplus in the number of tourists arriving from these nine (which included Israel, Ukraine, France, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Estonia, Serbia and Syria) covered only 30 percent of the loss caused by the decrease in the Russian market.

UAE: Airbnb Demand Grows In The UAE

The service competes with hotel apartments in Dubai: analysts

Dubai: On a recent trip to Kiev, Ukraine, Leena Alwedai decided to stay in an apartment that she found on Airbnb for four nights, with price being the main motivator.

Why pay for a hotel room, she said, when she wasn’t going to use the hotel’s facilities?

The 25-year-old Dubai resident said that she paid $45 (Dh165) per night for the Kiev apartment, adding that it was “twice as cheap” compared to what she would’ve paid for a hotel room.

The location of the apartment was also desirable. “I wanted a convenient place that was close to the metro,” she said.

Airbnb, a San Francisco-based home-sharing firm, helps tourists find cheap accommodation in sought-after locations. It is popular with value-seeking families and millennials, tourism analysts say.

The company is growing rapidly, with a presence in more than 34,000 cities worldwide. It is expected to double its nightly bookings this year to about 80 million, according to a Reuters report last month.

The growth of the company is threatening many hotels globally since it is undercutting their prices. In Dubai, rates of homes on Airbnb range from $20 to over $2,000 per night, while hotel room rates can be anything from $100 to over $10,000 a night — that’s 40-50 per cent cheaper, said Yousef Wahbah, head of transaction real estate for the Middle East and North Africa at global consultancy EY.

If Airbnb continues to grow at its current rate, the dent in budget hotels’ takings is expected to be 10 per cent by 2016, according to an article in The Economist last year, citing a study by Boston University.

Listings in the UAE

The company has 2,000 properties listed in the UAE, mainly in Dubai. It has seen a 93 per cent increase in the number of listings in the UAE over the last year, an Airbnb spokesperson said by email.

“Dubai is our largest city in the region,” the spokesperson added.

Analysts vary on just how much Airbnb is impacting the hospitality industry in the country, which most saying hotel apartments in Dubai are receiving the most competition from Airbnb’s listings.

“Airbnb does not compete with hotels but it competes to a certain extent with hotel apartments,” Chiheb Ben Mahmoud, executive vice-president — head of hotels and hospitality group for the Middle East and Africa at real estate consultancy JLL, said by phone.

John Podaras, partner at consultancy Hotel Development Resources, said that hotels here do not compete with Airbnb because “the products and consequently the markets tend to be different.”

“Typical hotel guests are looking for full serviced concepts that hotels offer whereas the Airbnb market tends more towards the self-catering product,” he added.

Meanwhile, Wahbah said that the home and room renting site competes with affordable hotels and hotel apartments in the city.

“Airbnb is not a direct competitor to the luxury hospitality offerings that the city has to offer but can be considered as a competitor in the affordable market segments,” he said.

Mona Faraj, managing partner at consultancy Insights Management Consultants, pointed out that the company is “not a significant threat to the industry at this point”.

She noted that in March, Dubai had 1,008 listings on Airbnb — that represents less than 2 per cent of the emirate’s hotel inventory, citing the Middle East Online Travel Overview report by Phocuswright.

Airbnb’s rapid growth comes even as the firm battles globally with regulators over who can rent out their properties.

Regulations

In Dubai, subletting properties for a short term without the landlord’s consent and a license to operate a holiday home is illegal, says Geoff Smith, senior associate at law firm Afridi & Angell.

“Under the landlord/tenant legislation in Dubai, subletting of property is permitted with the landlord’s consent. Anyone who is seeking to lease or sublease property as a holiday home or short term let must also be licensed by the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM),” he said by email.

The law to regulate the holiday home market in Dubai was introduced two years ago, with the aim to help the emirate achieve its target of welcoming 20 million visitors per year by 2020.

“Holiday homes form an integral part of the Dubai hospitality offering, contributing to the growth of Dubai’s tourism industry by broadening the range of accommodations available to visitors and complementing the emirate’s world-class hotel offering,” Khaled Bin Touq, executive director, licensing & classification sector at DTCM, said by email.

Future growth

Analysts expect demand for homes on Airbnb in Dubai to grow in the coming years, as the number of tourists in the city increase, which is currently growing at around 10 per cent annually, according to DTCM. The emirate attracted 13.2 million visitors in 2014, up 8.2 per cent over the previous year, DTCM said in a statement.

“The city has seen a healthy demand for these services in the recent years, which is only expected to grow on account of the increase in tourists and the developments around Expo 2020 a six-month trade fair,” Wahbah said.