In recent years, due to the lack of snow in Lithuania and Europe during the winter, Lithuanians are increasingly spending their cold season holidays skiing in Scandinavian countries, but they are also actively traveling to warmer climes, say tourism business representatives.
Žydrė Gavelienė, head of the travel agency Estravel and president of the Lithuanian Chamber of Tourism, says that residents looking for winter entertainment are discovering easily accessible Finland and Sweden, where there is snow and well-developed infrastructure.
"In the last couple of years, there has been less snow not only in Lithuania, but also everywhere in Europe. Lithuanians are very cautious and we see that new ski destinations are emerging. In order to have fresh and good snow during their holidays, people are choosing Scandinavian countries," Ž. Gavelienė told BNS.
"Finnish and Swedish Lapland is an ideal product for traveling with a family. Travel in that direction is definitely increasing, although it is not yet mass tourism," she said.
According to Ž. Gavelienė, the Nordic countries are becoming an increasingly attractive winter destination not only because of the snow, but also because of convenient transportation - all the capitals of the Scandinavian Peninsula are reachable from Lithuania by direct flights, and they have excellent train connections. In addition, Finland can be reached by car and ferry from Estonia.
Rimvydas Širvinskas, the head of the company "Travel Deals LT", known as "Makalius", said that in winter both tour operators and airlines most actively offer ski trips to Italy or Austria, while people themselves drive to the Tatras by car: Zakopane in Poland or Slovakia.
According to him, this year, compared to last year, interest in skiing destinations has increased.
"Maybe it's because of the excessively warm weather in Lithuania. I dare to guess so, because indeed the prices of flights (...) are higher. So, the demand is high and airlines that want to make money are responding to this," R. Širvinskas told BNS.
The cold season, called "tourism winter" in the sector, begins in November and lasts until April.
According to tour operator managers, during this period, residents are looking for either sun or skiing - organizers offer trips to Egypt, Madeira, the Canary Islands, Dubai. Some of them invite you to go to more exotic countries, for example, to Sri Lanka, Thailand, Gambia, Vietnam, Malaysia.
"This is a warm destination and it's definitely the best place to travel when it's winter in Lithuania," said R. Širvinskas.
According to Ž. Gavelienė, during the winter season, residents travel abroad or to local resorts for longer periods during Christmas, as well as in February, when schoolchildren are on vacation. As winter ends, people travel more actively, both to countries with warm climates and to the mountains for skiing, she emphasized.
At that time, during Easter, people travel to the Mediterranean region, where it is not yet hot in March-April, on sightseeing trips.
R. Širvinskas emphasized that the number of people who travel to warm countries for at least a few weeks or months during the cold season is increasing.
"This is not the first year that I have seen that people travel not only in the summer, (...) but also in the winter. More and more people are embarking on longer trips, perhaps deciding to work remotely," said the head of "Makaliaus".
"The journey is no longer a dream"
According to R. Širvinskas, as large tour operators actively compete, travel is becoming increasingly affordable, and people are more active than in the past few years in planning trips in advance for the summer or the end of the year.
According to him, Makalius now receives about 30 percent more inquiries than a year ago. According to him, although travel has become somewhat more expensive over the year, companies offer them at affordable prices; for example, you can go to a five-star hotel in Egypt for a week for a few hundred euros.
"Competition is taking its toll. Among tour operators (…) who operate charter flights and seek to put travelers on their own plane, not a competitor's, you can definitely see ridiculous ticket prices already in January," said R. Širvinskas.
"Travel is no longer a dream for people, something that only happens once a year," he emphasized.
At that time, Ž. Gavelienė asserted that people are increasingly traveling through tour operators because they want their vacation to be safer and not suffer financially.
Author Lukas Juozapaitis
