Crisis snatches clients away from Father Frost and Snow Maiden
Belarusians are refusing from corporative parties in restaurants, they have stopped going to Prague for Christmas and are not going to invite Father Frost and Snow Maiden to New Year’s parties. This is the result of ERB’s research of the influence of the economic crisis on the services sector. Nadzeya, employee of a travelling agency, said that Belarusians have started buying only the cheapest tours mainly to Belarus. They have almost stopped going abroad. They have to cooperate with other agencies to gather tourists to fill in one bus.
Nadzeya: “In fact, the number of clients has reduced by about 40%. We used to work a lot on last New Year’s Eve. People wanted to go to southern countries and ordered Christmas tours to Prague, Vilnius and Poland. Now there are very few clients. We make Christmas tours together with other agencies to be able to organize something”.
Minsk taxi-drivers are also complaining about the crisis. They say that a lot of clients used to pay in dollars. They have not seen any foreign currency for a long time. And the number of orders has decreased too.
This is what the deputy head of taxi service 184 told ERB:
“The number has decreased by about 30%.We hope there will be no global deterioration”.
The number of clients in Minsk restaurants has also decreased. Employees of “Traetski” confessed that the number of clients has decreased even in the evenings. Organizations are refusing from corporative parties referring to the crisis.
“Traetski” restaurant: “The number of clients has decreased. There are not many clients during Christmas vacations and on New Year’s Eve anyway as corporative parties are usually organized. However, the crisis has influenced this sphere too. Some companies are refusing from parties. It is absurd but they say it is because of the crisis”.
Even fathers Frost and Snow Maidens are jobless on the eve of the New Year’s Day. The number of orders has decreased by half, complains Snow Maiden Veranika in an interview with ERB. Our patrons have promised to phone us and they haven’t done it yet.
Veranіka: “The number has decreased by 50%. We are going to phone our patrons today and ask them about it. They used to invite us every year. They said they would invite us again and asked us to keep doing our job. But nobody has phoned us yet. I am really surprised about it”.
It is worth mentioning that inviting a father Frost and a Snow Maiden to your house costs from 25 to 50 dollars an hour.
Some companies do not want to spoil their image or spread panic. They say that everything is as usual and that the crisis has not influenced them. However, employees of “Startravel” agency told us: “Who would tell you the truth anyway?”.
Nadzeya: “In fact, the number of clients has reduced by about 40%. We used to work a lot on last New Year’s Eve. People wanted to go to southern countries and ordered Christmas tours to Prague, Vilnius and Poland. Now there are very few clients. We make Christmas tours together with other agencies to be able to organize something”.
Minsk taxi-drivers are also complaining about the crisis. They say that a lot of clients used to pay in dollars. They have not seen any foreign currency for a long time. And the number of orders has decreased too.
This is what the deputy head of taxi service 184 told ERB:
“The number has decreased by about 30%.We hope there will be no global deterioration”.
The number of clients in Minsk restaurants has also decreased. Employees of “Traetski” confessed that the number of clients has decreased even in the evenings. Organizations are refusing from corporative parties referring to the crisis.
“Traetski” restaurant: “The number of clients has decreased. There are not many clients during Christmas vacations and on New Year’s Eve anyway as corporative parties are usually organized. However, the crisis has influenced this sphere too. Some companies are refusing from parties. It is absurd but they say it is because of the crisis”.
Even fathers Frost and Snow Maidens are jobless on the eve of the New Year’s Day. The number of orders has decreased by half, complains Snow Maiden Veranika in an interview with ERB. Our patrons have promised to phone us and they haven’t done it yet.
Veranіka: “The number has decreased by 50%. We are going to phone our patrons today and ask them about it. They used to invite us every year. They said they would invite us again and asked us to keep doing our job. But nobody has phoned us yet. I am really surprised about it”.
It is worth mentioning that inviting a father Frost and a Snow Maiden to your house costs from 25 to 50 dollars an hour.
Some companies do not want to spoil their image or spread panic. They say that everything is as usual and that the crisis has not influenced them. However, employees of “Startravel” agency told us: “Who would tell you the truth anyway?”.
