The cost of helicopter tours in Kamchatka will immediately increase by 25% next year.
In the summer of 2023, the most affordable option for a trip to the Valley of Geysers was offered for 56,000 rubles per adult. “Tourists complained that it was very expensive,” says a representative of one of the regional travel agencies.
In 2024, the tariff will immediately increase by 14,000 to 70,000 rubles. For a child under 12 years old, parents will pay 45,000 rubles.
A significant share of the cost of the tour is a helicopter flight. Therefore, the main reason for the increase in prices is a noticeable increase in prices for aircraft maintenance, fuel and fuel. According to Ekaterina Anisimova, Development Director at Vityaz-Aero Airlines, for some items, maintaining airworthiness has become 50— 80% more expensive.
Another factor is the increase in prices for entrance tickets to the Kronotsky Nature Reserve. Next year, the nature park administration plans to raise them by at least 15% to 7.9 thousand rubles, but possibly higher. The decision is also explained by the increase in tariffs for fuels and lubricants.
The economical helicopter tour to the Valley of Geysers in question lasts six hours and, in addition to Kamchatka’s main attraction, includes visits to the Uzon Volcano calderas and the Nalychevsky hot springs.
Obviously, tourists have nowhere to go — they will have to pay, because visiting Kamchatka loses its attractiveness without geysers.
But residents of the Kamchatka Territory now have a difficult choice: relatively inexpensive tours to Thailand with direct flights are available from the region. A 12-day tour package departing from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to Phuket will cost 125,000 rubles per person (250 for two) in January. The trip will be even cheaper if you go on vacation to Pattaya from Khabarovsk: a 10-day tour is available for 75,000 (the price is per tourist for double occupancy).
Source: https://travel.rambler.ru/
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