On overseas beaches, Russians can dazzle foreigners not only with the brilliance of their jewelry
Form of immorality: Why do foreign resorts more and more often refuse to take “Russo touristo” on vacation?
A new service is rapidly gaining popularity in the global travel industry – “tours without Russians”. So, recently in the Dutch newspapers the announcement of the travel agency Annasol Vliegvakanties appeared, which lured customers with a promise to settle them in a hotel where only natives of Western, but not Eastern Europe live.
And the Turkish company, which is looking for customers in Belgium, has placed a straightforward advertisement: “Arzus” is a 100% Turkish resort, guaranteed without Russians. ” Most likely, the number of customers in the company will increase. Indeed, according to the studies of the Dutch cultural expert Esme Visser, 40% of Europeans vacationing in Turkey and Egypt complain of restless Russian neighbors. Novye Izvestia tried to find out why our travelers did not please foreigners.
“We’ll prove nemchuru how cool we are”
Perhaps the first thing many foreigners associate with Russia is vodka. Alas, many of our tourists themselves support this stereotype, putting an equal sign between the concepts of “booze” and “rest”. “After that story, I even thought about quitting work,” admits “NI” Gabriella Silva, a Russian-speaking guide from Spain. – We went with a group on a guided tour. At the next stop, a Russian man bought a bottle of liquor and, returning to the bus, gutted it empty. After half an hour, alcohol hit him in the head. The man sang songs, shouted curses. Then he began to feel sick, and every five minutes he began to demand to stop the bus. I suggested he use a paper bag. In response, the man ran to the driver and began to pull the steering wheel from him. I had to land a Buyan right in the middle of the road. How he got to the hotel later is still a mystery to me. ”
Andrew, an English engineer, told his story: “I am shocked by these Russians. At a Turkish resort in Marmaris, I met two guys, it seems, from Moscow. We decided to skip a glass. Of course, I’m not a fool to drink, but I had to give up in an hour and a half. Barely to the hotel crawled. And the guys were going to a disco. ”
Similar stories are easy to find on German online forums: “My wife still cannot forget that“ fabulous ”night in a Turkish hotel. Drunken Russians smashed at 4 in the morning in all the rooms. If they were opened to them, they doused themselves with foam from a fire extinguisher. ”
According to experts, the problem of excessive alcohol addiction is international. Another thing is that many “Russo tourists” consider it a matter of honor to uphold the stereotype of “just from Russia means you can drink the sea.” “This is especially true on vacation,” Oleg Zykov, president of the Net Foundation for Alcoholism and Drug Addiction, confirmed to NI. “There are no deterrents, there is no incentive to abandon alcohol, but there is a desire to prove to this nemchuru how cool we are.”
Well-fed but ill-mannered
“If at the resort you saw a man with disgusting manners and grace of a bear, then with a high degree of probability we can assume that he is from Russia,” says London psychologist Mike. – In hotels, Russians drive staff like soldiers in a barracks, steal food from a buffet and talk loudly. The constant manner of doing everything collectively is also perplexing. Russians like to relax in company, and if they travel alone, they create a company on the spot. If you have lunch, then they definitely need to move the tables so that others would not be comfortable going through. If you go to the beach, then pre-occupy all the sun loungers within a kilometer radius. “
But most of all foreigners infuriate the pathological desire of our tourists to snatch a bigger piece for free. We want to be in time, see everything, be the first to take a turn at breakfast, to take the best places in a sightseeing bus. “When I was at a theatrical performance in one of the castles of the Czech Republic, I was unpleasantly surprised by the boorish behavior of some people from our group,” Muscovite Tatyana Khanaeva shared with “NI”. – At first, everyone peacefully watched the tricks and acrobatic numbers, but when they brought in small dishes with food, the tourists eagerly grabbed the pieces directly from the trays, without waiting until they were put on the table. And immediately began to whisper that there wasn’t enough food for everyone. Some already simply choked on snacks, but continued to pick new ones – to wrap them in a napkin and take them to the hotel with them. ”
“The whole thing is in the soviet past, which still sits in us,” psychologist Dmitry Sinarev told NI. – We are not used to money, we have not learned how to use it. Many people have earned capital quickly and easily, so they don’t know the value of money, don’t understand that they need to be saved, and not scattered right and left. Unfortunately, this affects our behavior in places of rest. ”
Features of national fishing
It is this inability to relax and makes our compatriots behave in the resort, to put it mildly, eccentric. “We heard a lot about the expensive habits of your“ new Russians ”, but we have encountered this for the first time! – complained “NI” the manager of the tourist complex near Stockholm. – A group of Russian oil workers came to us, forty-year-old men who did not count money, but spend it in a very peculiar way. They stubbornly neglected a good restaurant, a shopping center and a water entertainment complex, spending all their time fishing with a hired guide. They didn’t let the fish overboard, as other tourists did, but dragged with them to land to eat. ”
According to our interlocutor, the Russian oil industry workers refused the services of restaurant cuisine, saying that they themselves want to fry perches and pikes at the stake. But the trouble is – in the area of Stockholm, a ban on bonfires has been announced! Upon learning about this, the men hired for a very large amount the guys from the local fire brigade to watch the campfire while the tourists fried and gobbled up their fish.
On eccentric antics are not only adults, but also children. For example, in one of the parks in Holland, Russian babies staged a real hunt for swans living in a pond. Moreover, when it turned out that birds could not be caught with their bare hands, stones and sticks were used. “We behave defiantly, immediately catch our eye, try to show how successful and cool we are,” Larisa Pautova, leading analyst of the Public Opinion Foundation, told NI. – Most Russians can only afford to relax abroad once a year. We have been preparing for this event for a long time. And when we find ourselves in the resort, we stick out all our “virtues”. For Europeans, there is nothing extraordinary in relaxation. Therefore, they behave modestly. “
“Christmas tree” on the beach
Resentment among holidaying Europeans is even caused by non-drinkers and generally quite decent Russian ladies. “For dinner, Russians dress up as if they were going to the opera or to the reception of the queen. They move around the hotel in translucent dresses, and go to the beach with thick gold chains, ”we find such lines at the Italian women’s forum. Russians here are ironically called “Christmas trees.”
According to experts, our women have a passion for catchy outfits and expensive jewelry. “In our dressing style, the Byzantine tradition is clearly traced: in order to get attention, one must be bright. As the church attracted people with its golden decoration and luxurious icons, so our women attract men with colorful clothes and massive jewelry, ”Anush Gasparyan, commercial director of Fashion Consulting Group, explained to“ NI ”. – Moreover, our tourists dress up not only for gala evenings, but also in the morning, before a swim in the pool. Sometimes it looks just ridiculous. Still, heels and makeup have no place on the beach. But in fairness it’s worth saying that many men like this “absurdity”. ”
Make yourself at home
No matter how much Europeans are indignant, there will not be less Russians abroad. Hotel owners are ready to endure any mischief of Russians, because they pay, and often pay very generously. According to a study by Europe Assistance, only Ukrainians spend more Russians abroad. Our compatriots leave the most substantial sums for services in hotels, clothing stores, jewelry, and, of course, in duty free. Most of the Russian money is deposited in the pockets of tourism workers in Italy, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Spain, and, of course, Egypt and Turkey.
To “dear” guests feel comfortable and at the same time do not interfere with other tourists to relax, in many countries special tours “Only for Russians” are created to spite the European “Tours without Russians”. For example, in the eastern part of Finland, “Russian villages” are being built, where everything is at home: the staff in the store and restaurant speak our way, the houses are equipped with satellite dishes, which receive Russian TV channels, and the club hosts domestic pop songs.
Sea battle
Russians still do not deserve to rest exclusively on reservations, experts say. The Russian tourist is not so terrible as foreigners paint him. In the words of the indignant Europeans there is a fair amount of bias. The fact is that Germans, British and Italians have long been the undivided kings of popular resorts. So it was until the Iron Curtain fell and the Russians poured into the inexpensive beaches of Turkey, Cyprus and Egypt. The “Westerners” are simply unhappy that they had to “move.”
Good hotels quote holidaymakers by nationality so that an equal number of Germans, Italians and Russians rest in the hotel. But most of the mid-range hotels have not yet had time to adapt to new circumstances and give half, if not more, of rooms to the Russians. “When a person is surrounded by people speaking another language, he, of course, experiences discomfort. Negativity during the trip accumulates and then translates into reviews on online forums, ”said Dmitry Danilenko, vice president of Banko information service, to“ NI ”. – Moreover, it’s not at all a fact that it was the citizens of our country who behaved ugly. Foreigners consider all Russian-speaking tourists “Russian”. ”
Beach xenophobia has other reasons. The fact is that each nation has its own ideas about a good vacation. So, according to our experts, the Russians want to drink and dance until you drop, the Belgians seek peace and tranquility, the Italians demand entertainment for their entire noisy family, the Germans dream of just lying on the beach. The goals of tourists from different countries do not coincide, and travelers begin to annoy each other. The Germans infuriate a children’s screech on the beach, the Belgians – “drunken faces”, the Russians – “lean mines” and endless remarks addressed to them. In a word, that it’s good for the Russian, then the Germans die. But do not we fight again – because of the deck chairs and a place in the sun?
IN “RESORT WARS” PARTICIPATE NOT ONLY RUSSIANS
An unusual lawsuit recently filed by the Englishman David Barnish against a British travel agency. The man was outraged by the fact that in the Greek hotel, where he spent his vacation, there were too many Germans. What burghers did not please come from a foggy Albion, not reported. Nevertheless, the man won the trial. Travel agency paid him 950 euros of compensation.
The confrontation between the British and Germans on the beach is not the first year. So, last year in Italy, a bus driver from the UK was arrested for burning all beach towels of German tourists. The fact is that the Germans got up early in the morning and occupied all the best sun loungers. The Englishman, who had to lie on the bare sand, at first simply removed the towels laid out on the busy sun loungers, and then decided to burn them. The arsonist was arrested, but released three hours later.
In Germany, where any, even the most subtle, hint of xenophobia is strictly punishable by law, such tricks do not work. The Germans are simply trying to bypass the places chosen by the British for relaxation. To prevent the burghers from accidentally falling into the “camp of the enemy”, local newspapers regularly publish a list of resorts where an influx of tourists from the UK is expected.
There really is a reason to stay away from English travelers. This is recognized even by the British Foreign Office. Last summer, the ministry released a report saying that the British on vacation drink without measure and behave aggressively, which sometimes causes a negative reaction from local residents and vacationers from other countries.
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