A member of the Federation Council committee on rules and organization of parliamentary activity, a representative of the Altai Republic in the Federation Council, Vladimir Poletayev, was a guest of Vestnik Kavkaza program Tribune today. He spoke about the problems in the Russian tourism industry, which are again in the center of attention after the death of 14 children on Syamozero lake.
First of all, he expressed condolences to the families of those who lost their children. "There was a terrible tragedy in Karelia. As a father of three children, I express my deepest condolences to the families and the loved ones of the victims. This loss is a grave problem, and my colleagues and I have consistently advocated for civilized tourism. Now our tourism got a second chance, but in summer many parents still worry sending children to summer camps or tourist destinations," he said.
In this regard, a mandatory insurance of underage tourists would be a reasonable measure. "A mandatory insurance is necessary for children's tourism. Firstly, if the child is insured, it will encourage parents and tour operators to think about the route and warn about all the complexities. Tourism represents a certain amount of risk and we must minimize this risk," Vladimir Poletayev stressed.
"Accidents happen regularly in the regions lately, for example, our own Siberian professional climbers got lost and died in Altai, ignoring about basic security issues. We should pay attention to the financial part of the issue here: indeed, taxes are spent to conduct rescue operations and provide emergency aid, but tourists should be aware that insurance is the tool that will positively affect the security of their vacation. In the near future we will work out the proposal for mandatory insurance of tourists and introduce the bill to the State Duma. I hope it will be supported by both the [tourism] ministry and the government as a whole," the senator said.
A member of the Federation Council committee on rules and organization of parliamentary activity called on Russian tourists to have a more responsible approach to registration of documents for traveling abroad. "Practice shows that our citizens, when they buy a tour abroad, rather carelessly refer to the reading of the insurance voucher. So when they have accidents abroad, a long ordeal begins, because a tourist is not fluent enough in the foreign language and cannot understand the situation," he explained.
"At the same time, medical services often limited to applying a bandage. And when a tourist comes back to Russia, there is a new stage of the long ordeal –attempts to get reimbursement for the treatment from the insurance or the travel company. We are studying this issue in addition to the mandatory insurance issue: there must be a minimum list of medical services, which should guarantee assistance to our citizens abroad. And I hope that this initiative will be implemented in the future," Vladimir Poletaev concluded.
