Bankers state that the number of Ukrainians who take out loans for tourist travels is growing significantly every year. At the same time the experts consider that the cooperation between the financial institutions and travel agencies in the direction of crediting those who want to go on the vacations promising. According to experts, the number of individuals who want to go on the vacations on credit is rapidly increasing from year to year. "According to our research, tourism is in the top five of the most popular purposes for consumer loans. Traditionally we observe an increase in sales on average by one and a half times at the beginning of the summer season, including due to the increase in the percentage of loans for tourism in summer. According to the experience of previous years, the peak of credit sales for tourism in our bank will be in July and August" – continues Yevheniya Rozhkova, the head of the department of affiliate programs of Renaissance Credit bank.

At the same time the majority of banks do not develop special programs for crediting of tourist trips, and offer standard terms for cash loans or credit cards loans. "Mostly the banks offer the usual cash loans as a credit for the vacation. This product is clear to the bank and to the client. By advertising them as loans for vacation, the bank simply gives the customer an idea – you can lend money for such purpose, too" – says Stephan Guglieri, the executive director of the First Ukrainian International Bank.

It is worth noting that credit cards, not cash loans, are becoming more and more popular for the payment of travels in recent years. "Taking into account the growing popularity of the Ukrainians to organize their trips, the credit card will soon become the most popular means of taking out loans for the vacation. It is very easy purchase air or railway tickets online with the help of a credit card. The availability of the grace period of use (45 days on average), during which the customer does not pay interest for the use of funds is also the advantage of a credit card. For example, you can go on the two week vacation, use the card to make payments in stores and on the Internet abroad and return them after about a month after you have returned home. At the same time the card remains active and there is no need to contact the bank in order to replenish the amount, when you go on vacation the next time. Among other undeniable advantages for the traveler is the fact that there is no need to carry a lot of cash with you"– describes the advantages Stephan Guglieri.

Furthermore, a number of banks are already cooperating with travel agencies, offering the opportunity to purchase a holiday package and take a loan for this purpose in one place. "This segment of the goal-oriented lending market has a potential but is not yet sufficiently developed. This is partly due to the fact that the tourist industry is just beginning to assess the benefits of new forms of cooperation and customer engagement,"– tells Yevheniya Rozhkova.

According to the expert, the cooperation with the bank is very advantageous to small and medium-sized travel agencies in small cities. This cooperation enables the increase of sales – they attract a new segment of buyers which would not have arisen otherwise.

Source: Portal "ProstoBank"