By Vestnik Kavkaza
Since mid-July Russia is going through a series of bankruptcies of tour operators – Neva, Rosa Vetrov Mir, Labyrinth, IntAir Travel… Thousands of tourists suffer; and now experts have to decide what the reasons for these bankruptcies are and what has to be done to prevent such a situation in the future.
According to Maya Lomidze, Executive Director of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, one of the reasons for the bankruptcies of tour operators was unusual changing demand in the tourism market: “It began to grow and then suddenly dropped. Turkey – plus 15%; Europe – minus 30%. The market has never faced such fluctuations before.” Maya Lomidze thinks that another reason is tough competition in the tourism market: “The pressure from inside and external conditions led to the collapse.”
Lomidze predicts that “some small companies will turn into tourist agencies or leave the market without loss of consumers.” Tourists should book and buys tours from stable companies.
Vladimir Kantorovich, the first vice-president of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, thinks that all participants of the tour industry should bear responsibility, not only a tour operator. He says that the tour industry consists not only of tour operators. “It starts from tour agencies where people come and pay money. Unfortunately, we often face a situation when people pay money, and the tour agency disappears with their money,” Kantorovich complains.
He calls for distinguishing between tour operators and tour agencies. “A tour agency is a kind of outlaw, as they are not registered anywhere. Any vegetable stall can sell tours. And the law requires that a tour operator should be responsible for a tour agency which disappears with a consumer’s money,” Vladimir Kantorovich says.
Participants of the tour market are also airlines and insurance companies. “If an airline company doesn’t fly for some reasons, a tour operator is also responsible for this and should pay. The insurance company also often refuses to pay. But if the insurance company which was chosen by the tour operator doesn’t pay, the tour operator is accused of nonpayment, even though it chooses an insurance company which has a license of the Central Bank. And a tour operator is guilty again!” the first vice-president of ATOR explains.
According to Vladimir Kantorovich, the situation when the whole responsibility is borne by tour operators led to bankruptcy of several major tour companies. “Each segment of the market should be responsible for its activity – tour agencies, tour operators, airlines, and insurance companies. Everybody should be responsible for themselves, not that a tour operator should be responsible for everybody. The activity of each participant of the tour market should be put in order,” Kantorovich says.
He is sure that “tour agencies should be registered and responsible for their deeds. Probably financial guarantees or deposits are needed, if insurance companies don’t want to insure them. How to organize it – that is another question. But it is obvious that it should be done. We realized this long ago. But our suggestions on regulation of the tour market had always faced an argument “Don’t touch small business! We can’t prevent small business from development.” We don’t prevent small business from development, but when a tour operator is responsible for everything, we witness mass bankruptcies of tour companies.”
