Independent and individual tourism - what is important to know about it. Independent tourism in modern conditions Independent tourism and travel

Independent tourism

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Long gone are the days when a person, setting out in search of new lands, expected to see only unknown animals and unknown types of landscapes. The South American continent, not counting the icy Antarctica, was the last to be inhabited by people and this happened at least twelve thousand years ago, and all the great geographical discoveries are such only for European civilization, whose representatives explored new lands with the help (voluntary or involuntary) of local tribes and peoples..

Surprisingly, even now, when the world has rapidly shrunk to the size of a daily flight, the successful outcome of any serious expedition largely depends on the people met along the way and who provided all possible assistance. Moreover, when going on such a trip, we first of all strive to become more closely acquainted with the life and way of life of those who, by the will of fate, found themselves on our path. IN tourism business even a fashionable trend has appeared - “deep tourism”: when, for example, a shaman is presented as the most real, and not an aborigine working part-time; the situation is the same as what has been here for hundreds of years; the guides are all researchers and local historians, exclusively for your sake (and only for you, of course) revealing the secrets of this particular universe.

I would like to believe, but, in my opinion, the very fact of having a travel agency negates all the “depth”. Because an agency is a flow. And people living in this flow are simply doing their job. And what used to be life becomes part of work. The same shaman puts on an outfit not because he wanted to or because someone knocked from the lower world, but because he has to go to work in an outfit. Otherwise, tourists will make dissatisfied faces and beg from the guide for the “most natural” shaman, and not this simple person who pretends to be him. In the same jungle, watching the wild Huaorani, I realized that this was just work. Because every day the Waorani old man takes another gringo and drags them through the forest, showing off his dexterity in tree climbing, blowpipe shooting and basket weaving. For him it is work and nothing more. You will never know what is in his soul. You will not understand how they live, their way of life, their concept of the world. Because this is not the case at work.

Deep tourism is not an attempt to go where no man has gone before. There are simply no such places on Earth anymore. Maybe at the bottom of the ocean, but you won’t even set foot there. This is extreme, but there is no “depth” here.

“Depth” may lie nearby. Literally, under your nose. Crowds of tourists harnessed to agencies may rush past. Guides can point to the right and left, but not see this place. Because it is not in agency brochures and catalogs. Because there are no advertisements about it on every corner. Because this place is outside the stream. Ordinary people live there and lead ordinary lives. For them, it’s normal, of course. And the only difference is that they let you into their life. Maybe not for long, maybe just a little: but you begin to see the world through their eyes, you become immersed. The flow comes from above, and it doesn’t care about you. You become one of those “locals” who are not seen as an object for promotion, a full wallet or a simpleton for profit. You are in the depths. And this is where the success of the trip lies.

Is this possible? Certainly. AND South America- a very fertile place in this regard for Russians. Visiting the vast majority of countries on the continent does not require a visa, the mentality of Latin Americans is close and understandable to us, and the attitude towards our compatriots is, for the most part, positive. Moreover, the latter arises from a coinciding mistrust of the United States as a hegemon modern world and, oddly enough, thanks to Hollywood action films. Yes, yes, it is precisely thanks to the image of the Russian Ivan in the invariable sheepskin coat, earflap hat and with a bottle of vodka, capable (even at the cost of his own life) with one sledgehammer to repair the space station and, thereby, keep the promise he once made.

Therefore, I was not very surprised when, having asked Sandro, our Ecuadorian guide along the Napo River, how to send me an advance payment for preparatory work for the trip, I received an original answer: “You are from Russia and we agreed on prices and terms - no advance payment is needed . When you arrive you will pay.” Just think about it! After all, the guide prepares the boat for an autonomous journey in advance by purchasing provisions, fuel and spare parts - investing his efforts, funds and refusing possible orders for the duration of this trip.

When planning an expedition along the route of the discoverer of the Amazon, we did not book hotels or purchase travel packages. We were simply looking for ordinary people who shared our views on the world and were ready to help us implement our plans: thanks to the World Wide Web, anyone can do this. In this regard, the couchsurfing service is ideal. Well, in fact, where else can you get to know a country from the inside, if not in the house of a local resident who simply let you stay?

System CouchSurfing on this moment unites more than three million people around the world who are ready to provide each other with free accommodation while traveling – perfect way go into the “depths”. After all, upon arrival at the place you find yourself in a ready-made social environment and immediately receive a social circle. No hotel or agency will provide such implementation. Plus, the opportunity to spend the night for free becomes a catalyst for the whole process. By and large, in order to receive guests at your place, you only need to have the right to dispose of a place to stay for the night. It could be a floor, a bed, a room, or even a house. In a word - “couch” or “inscription” - a place to spend the night that the owner offers for travelers.

Ah, registration, registration. An alluring word from the times of the Soviet Union, when the appearances and passwords of possible overnight stays were transmitted by word of mouth, when communication with the owner of an improvised hostel for travelers sometimes began with the question: “Uncle, don’t you have any water, otherwise you want to eat so much that there’s nowhere to spend the night? » Nowadays everything is much simpler - thank goodness for the Internet. So we, without any hesitation, having arrived in Bogota, went not to a hotel at all, but to a residential condominium not far from the airport, where, in the company of the Iranian Mahdi and the Colombian Ingrid, we began to discover Colombia from the inside.

And in Ecuador, I knew such a “deep” place since my first trip to this country. Literally 800 meters from the highway leading to the tourist “Mecca” of the country - Lake Quilotoa, in the crater of the volcano of the same name, there is an ordinary hacienda where an ordinary family lives. Marco and Margarita. There is a modest sign along the road: La Posada de Tigua. By the way, the word “posada” literally means “private property where you can stay.”

The hacienda is over one hundred and twenty years old and it was built by... a Russian emigrant. But, soon, it went to the ancestors of Marco, who is already a representative of the fourth generation of owners. The hacienda lands once occupied the entire valley, but were nationalized in the 60s of the last century, so that now only a small part remains. But even this one small area it was profitable to study agriculture until the Ecuadorian government implemented dollarization in 2000. The standard of living fell sharply, farming became completely unprofitable and the owners of the hacienda found the only way out: to make a posada. By ourselves. Outside of travel agencies and advertising. Just as it is. Six years ago I was the second from Russia to stop here. Of course, we stopped by Marco and Margarita this time too. Over the past years, of course, a lot has changed: the agencies found out about the “tidbit” and my old friends had to hire workers and build a couple of houses to provide for everyone who wanted to stay. But for independent travelers, there is always a secluded corner in the posada - and this is still a joy. It’s encouraging, if only because there are few independent travelers.

Of course, it is much easier to contact an agency and, without getting involved in organizational problems, devote yourself to relaxation or discovery. Then why, after all, does independent tourism exist? What pushes people to do this?

The reasons are different, the essence is the same. The first part of people obeys fashion. It's fashionable to travel on your own these days. “Look, Mikhalych has traveled half the world himself, but am I weak?” They are being carried out “weakly”. The second part is looking for alternatives to holidays through agencies. Alternatives for those who have been deceived or framed. And only a third, small, part of people is not looking for reasons to travel independently. Because for them the journey itself is the reason.

What's the point? It’s about what people expect from the trip and how they imagine it. And only those who clearly know the answers to this do not experience disappointment.

- Just think, I was on the Amazon!
- Interesting! Tell!
- Well, it's hot, monkeys. We took a couple of cases of beer...

- It's horrible! We arrive in this Tmutarakan, but there are no hotels.
We found some kind of shack, and there was a toilet on the street. And this is a vacation?

“I thought: we’ll come and see the beauty - but there’s nothing unusual there.” It was just a waste of time running back and forth all week.

It makes me both sad and funny to hear these dialogues. Of course, traveling and other places are nothing unusual. No Martians with three heads, no living dinosaurs. No and there won't be. Everything unusual should be in your head. This is the essence and highlight of all travel. Learn to be surprised and then in the most ordinary things you will see what you wanted.

Only when the understanding comes that you see the world yourself and with your own eyes, and it doesn’t matter that you were shaking for three days on the road, the toilet is on the street, and there will be food on Tuesday - only then there will be no disappointments, only then are you ready for the trip. Is there anything else that confuses you? Then it's better to contact an agency. The embarrassment will be removed there, and you will get what you wanted.

But in most cases it does not imply a complete refusal to use travel (non-agency) services. When organizing it, the traveler independently forms the route of his trip, and also selects and purchases all its components (tickets, hotel accommodation, meals, excursions, etc.).

A special type of independent (independent) tourism - independent travel, which is often identified with independent tourism. However, independent tourism is a broader concept, since travel implies the presence of a certain goal and a route to literally follow it, while independent tourism can also imply a static stay at a resort, organized independently or, for example, various forms active tourism related to independent resolution of organizational issues. Therefore, the term “independent tourism” has a broader and more practical meaning, in contrast to travel, which has philosophical overtones.

Story

Historically, travel appeared earlier than mass tourism, which developed in the 20th century. Before the advent of mass tourism, any trip could be considered independent. Currently, it is possible to distinguish between the mass market for travel, sold as a finished product, and the market independent travel(or independent travels). Mass tourism assumes that travel is carried out as part of a tour organized by a tour operator. A trip (or tourist product) created by a tour operator includes a range of services for transportation, accommodation, excursion services, etc., provided to the tourist for a certain price. An independent trip includes the same components, however, these components are acquired by the tourist not in a complex (that is, not as a single tourist product), but separately.

The popularity of independent tourism began to increase at the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries. The growing popularity of independent travel is facilitated by the development of Internet technologies (online booking, electronic tickets, various Web forums about independent travel, etc.), which allow you to quickly find the necessary information and purchase travel components.

The main problem in popularizing independent tourism is the historically distorted idea that equates independent tourism with the so-called. “wild tourism” of the USSR era, which developed against the backdrop of a shortage tourism infrastructure and the orientation of the Soviet tourism industry mainly towards sanatorium and resort treatment.

Soviet “wild tourism” was forced [ ] nature and was associated with uncomfortable conditions of stay in the recreation area - renting premises from the local population that were not suitable for living, or living in conditions close to camping, despite the availability of the material possibility of providing more High Quality recreation.

Currently, “wild tourism” in its Soviet form is represented by the world-famous method of traveling in motorhomes (vans fully adapted for living, having an autonomous power plant, communications equipment, household appliances and sewerage). Another manifestation of “wild tourism” is in many ways similar to the Soviet one and is associated with a special group of vacationers, whom marketers classify as the so-called. the “first third” of the consumer market, that is, consumers with low social needs, and, in general, regardless of income level.

Routes

Route independent trip can be developed in advance: settlements and attractions are planned for visiting and inspection, hotels or other places of residence (hostels, rented apartments, camping sites), types of transport (bus, train, plane, car, bicycle) and type of travel between countries are determined and booked and cities (for example, hitchhiking). The route, modes of transport and type of accommodation may change as the trip progresses.

To plan and carry out trips, independent tourists actively use maps, guidebooks, atlases, and also study reviews of other tourists and travelers who have visited the destinations.

Types of independent tourism

Due to the lack of classification of this area of ​​tourism, confusion in the hierarchy and confusion of concepts often arises. In addition to mixing the concepts of travel and independent tourism, independent tourism itself is identified, for example, with hitchhiking or camping, while independent tourism is a method, and the types of independent tourism listed above are methods of implementation in relation to it.

• Hitchhiking - moving between cities on passing transport without paying
• Autotourism - traveling in your own or rented car
• Backpacking is a trip carried out by any available means for minimal money (usually by refusing the services of tour operators and preferring cheap methods of travel and accommodation)

Many experienced travelers already have their own trusted tour operators who help organize their vacation. But their services are not affordable for everyone. If you don’t want to pay a travel agency, you can organize everything yourself. What are the pros and cons of traveling independently?

pros

1. Good tour operator difficult to find. Rudeness on the part of travel agency employees and the company's financial problems, which often lead to bankruptcy, are well known to many. Those who like to relax without intermediaries depend only on themselves: on their financial capabilities, on their desires (you can change your travel route at any time).

2. Save time. Often, a travel agency’s vacation program includes various excursions, which are not always interesting to vacationers. You still have to go to the meeting place at a strictly appointed time. If someone is late, everyone waits for the offender. When organizing your excursions yourself, the excursion plan depends only on you. During your walks, no one will get under your feet and irritate you. You can go to any museum. To sit in a cafe, you don’t have to ask anyone for permission.

3. Saving money. Each travel agency offers its own trusted air carriers and its own hotels, although sometimes you can find other (cheap) options. In the middle of the week, air tickets are much cheaper than on Friday and Saturday, and instead of hotels, you can choose hostels or rent an apartment (room).

4. The tourist determines the departure date himself. It is difficult to fit your vacation into the tour operator’s schedule. If a vacationer is already tired of everything on the fifth or sixth day, it will not be possible to simply leave the vacation spot with a tour package. Any day a free tourist can exchange a luxury hotel for a simple hut (if he suddenly wants something exotic) or leave home ahead of time.

5. There is an opportunity to communicate with local residents, get to know the national culture better.

Minuses

1. Organizing the trip lies entirely on your shoulders: buying tickets, finding a hotel, choosing a route, obtaining a visa, etc. It will take several days to resolve all these issues. When purchasing a tour, all problems are solved by the travel agency employees.

2. If you don't know foreign languages, there may be a language barrier. Hotel managers in different countries most often speak English language. And a simple walk through a market or store without knowing basic foreign words will bring a lot of problems.

3. If force majeure suddenly arises, you will have to decide everything yourself. For your own peace of mind, you can arrange health insurance. IN organized trip The guide is responsible for everything.

For traveling with your family (parents, children), it is better to buy ready-made tour packages. With a last minute tour you can sometimes save a lot of money. Many travel companies also offer to book your vacation in installments. If you like improvisation while traveling and have a lot of free time, then independent organization relaxation is exactly what suits you.

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3812 July 19, 2016

Numerous online booking services are developing by leaps and bounds and are seriously laying claim to some of the tourists who previously traditionally went on vacation on package holidays. That is, travel agencies, which are already having a hard time during the crisis, now have another very serious competitor. We decided to find out about the pros and cons of different types of vacations from representatives of the largest online services and travel agency companies by asking them several identical questions.

Travel agents' opinion.

Maria Konabeeva, Marketing Director, TBS Group

Travel agency network TBS Group

What are the advantages organized holiday? Why should a tourist contact a travel agency?

Entrusting your vacation to professionals is more profitable and convenient than trying to create your own tour. Of course, this statement is true primarily for mass destinations, such as Tunisia, Greece, Cyprus, etc. That is, those destinations where charter transportation and a large range of package tours from tour operators are widely developed. Charter flights today are cheaper than plane tickets regular flights, and, as everyone knows, the flight is the most “significant” part of the cost of the tour.

It is worth noting that package tours allow you to save money when traveling not only abroad, but also throughout Russia. See for yourself: tickets for the flight Moscow - Simferopol - Moscow (fare with baggage) for mid-July will cost 19 thousand RUB for 1 person with all fees (that is, 38 thousand RUB for two). For the same money on similar dates, you can buy a ready-made tour from a tour operator, with a cost of 38 thousand RUB for two. In addition to the flight, the package includes accommodation in a very economical hotel and a transfer, which separately can cost a tourist 3 - 5 thousand RUB. Thus, savings even on domestic Russian destinations when booking a ready-made tour are up to 20%.

As for convenience, it is easier for ordinary tourists to book all services in one place than to conduct several independent communications with hotels, airlines, order a transfer and track the departure time of their flight. This is at least a time saver, and at a maximum it saves nerves: at the height of the season, booking a popular hotel on your own is like playing roulette.

And there is also a trust factor, which, unfortunately, is gradually disappearing. With the development of the Internet, with the decline in the quality of staff training in travel agencies, tourists increasingly trust reviews on forums, whereas previously they relied on the advice of their travel agent. There are a million nuances in our work that can ruin an independent tourist’s vacation: from the validity of a foreign passport when leaving for a specific country, to the lack of currency exchange offices at the airport of arrival. A competent tourism manager can almost 100% guarantee a tourist that there will be no problems during the trip.

Ticket aggregators and hotel booking services regularly report an increase in booking volumes. What do you think is the reason for this?

European destinations such as Spain, Czech Republic, Germany, France are beneficial for self-booking. Or exotic. Many of them do not have charters, but European low-cost airlines fly, which makes it possible to book inexpensive air tickets in advance. Lovers European holiday prefer to travel independently, this is a fact.

In addition, a large number of offline cash desks were closed, whose clients went online. And another important nuance - part of the bookings in ticket aggregators and hotel booking services is made by us, travel agents. And more and more aggregators are ready to provide travel agents with a commission when booking tickets and hotels through their service. The higher the share individual tours, the higher the volume of bookings from aggregators.

Have travel agencies recorded a decline in requests lately?

Now, on the contrary, there is a visible trend towards a recovery in demand. The market is in a fever every year, either from bankruptcies of tour operators or from closures popular destinations. However, during the crisis, we are developing all possible channels for receiving applications from tourists, working with the Internet audience, partially going online, and monitoring trends. These measures allow us to provide all our offices with the required number of applications. Yes, before the summer of 2014, life was easier for travel agents, but now it’s more interesting.

We have established good partnerships with many services, and they are service providers for us. We have a large category of tourists who regularly contact sales offices to book airline tickets or hotels. We do not consider them competitors, since everyone occupies their own niche in our business.

Union of Travel Agencies

Svetlana Makarova, member of the STA board and general director of “Hot Tours”

Why should a tourist contact a travel agency?

An organized vacation for a tourist, first of all, means saving one’s own time. By turning to professionals, he saves himself from the need to review many sites on the Internet in search of a suitable flight and accommodation option, does not worry about the transfer, and receives comprehensive answers to all his questions. In addition, when purchasing a package tour to a visa country, the agency will take care of all formal issues.

Why is the number of clients of online hotel and air ticket booking services steadily increasing?

After the crisis, which also affected the tourism industry, some tourists decided to go on an independent voyage. Owners of aggregator sites, having caught the trend, began to invest more actively in advertising their resources and attracted tourists who are not afraid to make large purchases online and feel quite confident abroad.

Have you noticed a decrease in the number of clients lately?

There is indeed some decline. However, it is more related to economic conditions rather than to the development of a variety of tourism services. People began to save on vacations, travel less often or reduce the duration of trips.

Do you consider ticket and hotel sales services your competitors? Or does another category of tourists turn to travel agencies?

We do not consider them serious competitors, because often tourists, having tried to organize their vacation on their own and encountered problems, return to the agency. Booking yourself from an aggregator site does not always mean you can save money. The price indicated on the aggregator may not include city taxes and deposits, and in fact the tourist will have to pay more than he planned. Additionally, you have to pay for the transfer, purchase insurance, and solve any problems that arise on your own.

In agencies, along with package tours, you can also purchase air tickets, book a hotel, buy excursions, and purchase other accompanying services and save money thanks to competent advice. In addition, agencies have implemented the ability to pay for services remotely, which eliminates the need for the client to come to the office.

Alliance of Travel Agencies

Natalia Osipova, ATA Executive Director

What are the advantages of organized holidays?

The biggest advantage of travel agencies is the cost of the tour: prices at travel agencies are lower than when booking on your own. In addition, the agency is always in touch with tourists and is ready to assist in resolving any customer problems. Agents also often act as psychotherapists, not only selling ready-made travel packages, but also talking with tourists, who often accumulate a lot of doubts and questions before the trip. Such careful work is very important for Russian tourists. So buying a tour through an agency is also easier from a psychological point of view.

How can one explain the active growth in the number of clients of online hotel and air ticket booking services?

First of all, it is worth distinguishing between tourists and other air passengers. Online services are often used by business travelers or people visiting relatives. We offer exclusively packages for tourists, which, as a rule, are cheaper than organizing a holiday on your own.

Are travel agencies seeing a decrease in the number of clients?

There is indeed a decline, but it is associated with the crisis and the decline in confidence in tour operators after their mass withdrawal from the market. The growth of interest in independent tourism is rather temporary. We see the following picture: tourists try to relax on their own, but as a result they return to travel agents, since with our help it is more convenient and cheaper to relax.

Do you consider ticket and hotel sales services your competitors? Or does another category of tourists turn to travel agencies?

After some surge in independent tourism, we are seeing a tendency for tourists to return to us. Some drop in sales is due to objective reasons. But we have confidence that the market will not fall: we will survive the crisis and tourists will return.

Opinion of online services.

Dmitry Khavansky, PR manager at Skyscanner in Russia

What, in your opinion, are the advantages of independent tourism over organized tourism?

Traveling on your own means being completely free in planning your trip, choosing a route, daily routine and method of transportation. You can follow a pre-set schedule or be spontaneous, focusing on your mood, weather and other phenomena in the world around you. Independent tourism allows you to explore the world as deeply as possible - gain interesting experiences, learn new things, and meet people of a different culture. But this is exactly why we go on a trip. Anyone who has at least once organized their own vacation will no longer be able to refuse the pleasure, which usually begins long before the trip - at the moment when the dream of a new trip is just beginning to take shape.

Moreover, if you adhere to the basic principles of planning, independent travel turns out to be profitable from an economic point of view. To book an inexpensive ticket and accommodation, adjust your vacation dates to the “low season” for the country you are going to; The ideal time to purchase air tickets is 7.5 months before departure (at this time they cost 16 - 33% cheaper than the annual average). Sites for searching for airline tickets, hotels and car rentals also help you find a good deal. For example, Skyscanner has a price tracking feature that allows you to monitor any changes in the price of your chosen flight. And if a tourist has not decided on a direction, but wants to go somewhere, you can try the “Search Everywhere” function, which will show where and when you can fly cheaply.

Do you notice an increase in the number independent tourists?

Russian travelers are increasingly booking flights, hotels and cars online, preferring independent control over expenses and complete freedom to travel. At the same time, for the second year now we have been observing a trend of increasing interest in domestic tourism and neighboring countries, as well as travel to Asia and other countries of Eastern Europe, which replace Western European destinations in the ratings.

Skyscanner itself continues to strengthen its position on Russian market. The number of users in Russia grew by 60% in 2015, and the number of sessions using mobile internet increased by 2.5 times.

Travel agencies and websites that help you organize your own trip offer different services and really appeal to different categories of users. But as we have already noted, the number of independent travelers is constantly growing.

In addition, even those who buy ready-made tours often turn to websites to search for air tickets, hotels and car rentals - just so that, for example, they can conveniently and quickly find the most profitable car rental option on the spot. After all, even with a package tour, people often go on small independent trips: they can go on an excursion to a neighboring city, to a restaurant, or take their children to an amusement park. As a rule, it is much more convenient to do all this in your “own” car.

Yulia Domracheva, PR manager at Aviasales

An independent traveler is essentially his own travel agency, and he has no restrictions in planning his trip. You can create a flexible route and cover several cities or countries in one trip. Another undoubted advantage is the ability to decide on the spot: for example, in 2 days you managed to see all the sights of Riga and are ready to go to Tallinn.

Freedom of choice is the key thing. You don’t have a hotel catalog; you have hundreds of rooms, private apartments, or even free options like the Couchsurfing website. You do not need to wait for confirmation; the same tickets are issued in real time. And if, for example, it’s cheaper to fly with the low-cost airline Air Asia, which is not in GDS, with a transfer in Medan, then why not fly?

Are you seeing an increase in the number of independent tourists?

Yes, we are watching. For example, despite the fact that in 2015 the number of passengers, according to statistics from the Federal Air Transport Agency, decreased by 13%, the number of sales through the Aviasales online search engine increased by 67%. That is, the less money people have, the more relevant the Internet is for them as an endless space for choice.

Do you consider tour operators and travel agents your competitors? Or does another category of tourists turn to travel agencies?

More likely, the second one. Fans of “package” holidays prefer to be accompanied throughout the entire holiday: met with a sign at the airport, taken to the hotel together with compatriot tourists, taken on excursions from door to door, etc. An independent traveler must make his own decisions: how to get from the airport to the hotel, which restaurant to dine at, or which museum to go to, for example, using a coupon. But there are also traditional operator routes, like Turkey, which are more reasonable to take through an agent.

Philipp Brinkmann, CEO of online travel agency Tripsta

What are the advantages of independent tourism compared to organized tourism?

By planning a trip on your own, you can see less touristy places, be absolutely free in choosing your leisure time and not be tied to general route and schedule. That is, such a vacation ends up being less predictable and costly than what traditional travel agencies offer. Tracking Special offers airlines, you can easily buy tickets even to the most remote corners of the planet for not too much money, and at the same time get great pleasure from planning your own route and communicating with other travelers when searching for information.

Are you seeing an increase in the number of independent tourists?

Yes, we fix it. Based on a survey of our analysts conducted among Russian travelers in March of this year, 65% of tourists prefer to plan their trips on their own. However, only 7% of travelers use package offers exclusively.

Do you consider travel agencies your competitors? Or are they approached by another category of tourists?

The audience of travel agencies is indeed completely different, so we do not classify them as competitors. In addition, the number of independent tourists increases every year. The recent series of bankruptcies of the largest Russian tour operators could not but affect travelers' trust in traditional travel agencies, which further encourages tourists to plan their trips individually. Therefore, our competitors are primarily other online travel agencies, and not classic travel agencies.

If you decide to take a vacation independent of travel companies(for independent travel), then you should familiarize yourself with the place where you want to go in advance.

For the safest possible trip, be sure to find out about the rules and regulations of your chosen vacation destination, because in different countries There are laws and customs, violation of which can lead to not very pleasant consequences.

The absolute advantages of independent tourism are that the choice of places, attractions, and excursions depends entirely on your decision. You are not obliged to follow certain routes offered by various travel agencies, and limit yourself to visiting only the most famous, remarkable places. Visit all the places that attract you, even those that are not very popular, but no less beautiful and interesting.

It is impossible to say for sure whether independent travel will be more economical. All this will depend on where you are heading.

You will have to take care of the tickets yourself; for this, there are special sites where you can sometimes find good deals.

There are also sites for booking hotel rooms. Or you can look for hotels and hostels when you arrive, but you can spend a lot of time and nerves on this, especially if you are still inexperienced and for the first time in this business. And there is also couchsurfing- an excellent option for an original tourist, it is free and allows you to make new interesting acquaintances. You will be received, fed, told and shown everything, provided that you also undertake to provide your accommodation free of charge to tourists if they go to visit your country and choose you as an intermediary. Everything is provided for your convenience, so don't be afraid to get started!

You may need language skills to be able to contact to the local population, if any problems arise, so first learn a few basic phrases, be sure to take a phrase book with you.

Look for information and read reviews about attractions, architectural buildings, interesting shops, cafes, buy a route map - this will help you get your bearings better.

Thanks to traveling "savages", you are given complete independence from time, and you will be able to get to know the culture of a given area, its inhabitants, traditions, and discover something new and useful for yourself.

If you have enough Money, then do not limit your freedom, relax for your own pleasure! Of course, you can save up for a minivan and drive it around the world in search of adventure, but that will be a completely different story...

Here are several countries that are considered the most convenient for first independent travel: Thailand, Czech Republic, Malta, Greece, Bulgaria.

They have relatively inexpensive service, a developed industry, a lot of beautiful, worthy of attention, places

And remember that independent tourism is to some extent extreme, but after trying it once you are unlikely to want to return to regular travel.