Russian Tourists

[Capealava]

Russian tourists" is a phrase that makes many shudder. Rightfully or not, but Russians earned a reputation of rude alcoholics who like to splurge but have no knowledge of basic etiquette. A German citizen who requested his money back after his vacation was “ruined” by Russians in Turkey added more fuel to the fire.

A funny but sad incident was made public the other day. A German tourist came back from his vacation in Turkey and filed a claim in a court demanding a part of his money back.

The tourist paid 589 Euros for all-inclusive vacation widely popular among Russians and was placed in a hotel filled with Russians by 80%. These Russians caused the tourist much frustration. He said that they ruined his vacation by being “rude” and “unbearable.” The Dusseldorf judge was not convinced and declined the claim.

It is not so much about this particular unlucky German, but about the fact that for many the phrase “Russian tourists” sounds like something horrible and extremely indecent. Everyone knows that certain travel agencies sell special packages for resorts with no Russians present. Not that many know that the buyers of these packages are mainly Russians. It turns out Russians are ashamed of themselves.

Of course, we can say that the bad fame of “always drunk Russians” is a gross exaggeration. Yet, from time to time Russians show themselves in not so favorable light. A good example is a recent video published on-line showing a Russian female in Turkey or Egypt causing an ugly scandal over slow service. While this nice looking lady was cursing a bartender, the crowd was happy to encourage her.

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Last year an opinion poll was conducted among Europeans where the participants said the Russian tourists did a lot of harm to others. Russians frustrate other tourists when they bring beach chairs to their rooms to guarantee they have them next day or pack food into their bags at buffets.

They behave extremely rude, speak loudly, and are generally unpleasant. Additionally, they flash their money trying to demonstrate to everyone how wealthy they are.

Interestingly enough, the last characteristic is appreciated in the Crimea. Local hotel owners say that while Russians drink and damage everything, they pay for this damage in full. “When Russians are having fun they want everyone around to have fun. Waiters get ridiculously large tips. Usually after too much food and alcohol Russians fight. Normally it is not only people who suffer but hotel assets as well. Furniture, TVs and glass get crashed. Next morning guests move to another room, pay for the damages and continue their vacation,” local hotel owners said.

Ksenia Obraztsova

Pravda.Ru

[Capealava]

From Russia with riches - and rudeness

Move over loud Americans and towel-brandishing Germans - now there’s a new tourist annoying British holidaymakers, says Max Davidson.

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Every generation of British holidaymakers has its bête noire, its least favourite fellow tourist, and this summer it's the Russians Photo: Getty

By Max Davidson5:49PM BST 20 Aug 2008

First it was Brad from Illinois, with his 20-stone wife, trying to do Europe in a week. Then it was Fritz from Munich, hogging the sunlounger. Then it was Shane from Brisbane, with the accent you could cut with a knife. Every generation of British holidaymakers has its bête noire, its least favourite fellow tourist. And there is no doubt who is filling the bill this summer — Ivan from Moscow, the hotel guest from hell.

See that guy with a gold bracelet propping up the bar, with a blonde on each arm? That’s Ivan. See the guy at the corner table, puffing clouds of smoke while snapping instructions into his mobile phone? That’s Ivan’s mate, Nikolai. See the guy with bulging biceps squiring the blowsy redhead in the see-through shirt? That’s Ivan’s mate Nikolai’s minder, Boris. And, yes, that is a gun in his armpit, just above the tiger tattoo.

Ivan and his entourage seem to be everywhere, from the Aegean to the Canary Islands, and if you go by the anecdotal evidence, they are making more enemies than friends.

When it came to behaving badly abroad, the gold medals used to go to British lager louts, trashing places like Benidorm and Faliraki. We are still a force to be reckoned with — the number of British holidaymakers arrested is up 15 per cent on last year — but we have been knocked off the podium by the Russians.

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“The place was crawling with them,” says a friend who has just returned from a week in a five-star hotel in Antalya in Turkey. “Men in hideously tight Speedo trunks, women who looked about 16 and dressed like prostitutes... They were loud, aggressive, smoked incessantly, filled the place with their fumes. As for booze, they outdid the Brits at their own game: got drunk faster, and were more aggressive afterwards.”

I had a similar experience at a Greek beach resort. There was an isolated cove with the words “QUIET BEACH” posted in five different languages. Which accent reverberated across the sand as the rest of us tried to read? You guessed. And who ostentatiously ordered the most expensive bottles of champagne on the wine-list to wash down their lunch? Got it in one.

Partly, of course, we are envious, the way we used to be envious of American tourists when the dollar ruled. For heaven’s sake, we think to ourselves, as the rouble billionaires flash their wads, it is only 20 years ago that these guys were queuing barefoot for bread in the snow.

But there is more to it than envy. There is a clash of cultures: different social attitudes to everything from smoking to mobile phone use and appropriate skirt lengths. It is a toxic combination - and the way modern package tourism works, with 50 Russians suddenly pitching up at the same hotel as 50 Brits or Germans, only makes it more so. National differences get magnified; mutual resentment festers.

Among many “Old Europe” hoteliers, there is a perception, fair or not, that Russians in large numbers are bad news. In 2007, in the upmarket Austrian ski resort of Kitzbühel, it was decided to impose a 10 per cent “quota” on Russians: they were felt to lower the tone and put off other guests.

Even the mighty Roman Abramovich is not immune to the backlash against his countrymen. Earlier this month, the multi-billionaire Chelsea owner was refused a table at a restaurant on the Tuscany coast. He was told — and how one envies the man who did the telling — to come back tomorrow as the restaurant was fully booked. “From north to south,” said La Stampa, the Turin daily, “a rebellion is growing against those who show off their wealth and power.”

All over the Mediterranean, there are frictions. Some of them are comically trivial. Non-Russians, for example, are baffled by the way Russians like to reserve seats for evening entertainment by placing pebbles or apples on the chairs — shades of the infamous German towels. But some of them go deeper.

“It is as much a question of decibels as anything else,” says a friend with bad memories of disturbed nights on a holiday on the Croatian coast last summer. “There were only about a dozen Russians in the hotel, but they made enough noise for 50. They didn’t seem to have any conception that other people might want a more low-key kind of holiday. When I tried to complain, that only made things worse.”

In the interests of international harmony, it is fair to say that not all Britons have had bad experiences of Russians on holiday: indeed, it has been said that it is our snobbery, not their rudeness, that is the problem.

“Some of them do make an easy target,” says travel writer Claire Wrathall, who spent time in Russia as a student. “I am thinking of the ones who turn up in the bar wearing silver trainers or an absurd amount of bling. But if you take the trouble to get to know them, particularly the ones travelling on their own rather than in a tour group, they are remarkably sophisticated, the reverse of narrow-minded. Russians tend to be much better at languages than the British and they have a healthy respect for British traditions and culture.”

Hope springs eternal, of course, and when one sees names like Andrei Petrovich or Natalia Godunova in a hotel register in Greece or Italy, one entertains fantasies about meeting characters straight out of Tolstoy or Chekhov: gentle, intelligent, humane; the proud representatives of a great culture.

But why are so many of those fantasies dashed by the sound of a drunken shriek and someone falling off their barstool?

[Jingthing]

I am happy you posted these items. The topic is very relevant to anyone spending time in Pattaya these days, particularly Jomtien. I have been trying hard to avoid developing strong negative prejudices against all Russians in response to countless personal encounters with shockingly rude behavior by Russian tourists. I have not been totally successful. However, I have noticed that single or small groups of Russians like a couple, etc. are often charming, but when the numbers grow to where their group dominates an area, it is a horror show. Sorry, but I think this became a serious tourism issue for Pattaya's future.

Russian money a good thing? Sure, but there is such a thing as too much of a good thing when it spoils the atmosphere for everyone else.

My grandparents all fled Russia on dangerous boats. Now I am starting to understand them better.

Edited November 16, 2011 by Jingthing

[Scott]

Non-Thai related topic with racial overtones.

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