Today there were reports in the media that the State Duma is discussing the further protect of citizens from the risks of foreign travel in the form of the introduction of exit visas. These words are attributed to the Deputy Governor of the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building, Vadim Solovyov.
"There are plenty of proposals submitted on introducing exit visas. Foreign Ministry officials and security officers would explain to the citizens what the risks are. After the citizens get this official information, they sign a document stating that they have been warned and still demand an opportunity to travel," Gazeta.ru cite him as saying.
Meanwhile, Solovyov has denied the discussion of exit visas in the State Duma, stressing that accents in his speech were incorrectly placed. "I said that there are plenty of proposals from citizens aimed at improving the safety of our tourists," he explained, adding that the introduction of mandatory procedures for informing citizens are among such proposals.
"It is important to convey to the Russian citizens full information on the security status in destinations where they choose to spend their vacations. And only after such a formal warning would the citizens have made the decision to fly to a particular country," TASS cited him as saying.
Professor of the Department of Business Process Management in Production and Service of RANEPA, Galina Dekhtyar, told Vestnik Kavkaza that the idea of exit visas cannot be realized. "If this will be a paid service, it is absolutely not an interesting option. We already have an official document, the so-called 'tourist reminder', compiled in accordance with the law on tourist activity in the Russian Federation. This tourist memo describes the hazards which are possible when you are staying in other country," she said.
"Another thing is that these documents were previously checked during the mandatory certification of tourism services, but today the travel agencies issue it on their own responsibility," Galina Dekhtyar added.
She noted that the main stumbling block in the scheme announced by the media is the idea of issuing exit visas by the Foreign Ministry. "If they will be given by the Foreign Ministry, the queue will be ten times longer than for Lenin's Mausoleum. If they will be issued by tourism companies, the procedure will not change," the Professor of the Department of Business Process Management in Production and Service of RANEPA concluded.
The President of the Association of Domestic Tourism of Russia, Vladimir Sharov, in turn, said that the tightening of control over the awareness of citizens when traveling abroad is appropriate. "Unfortunately, the tourists often do not know the geography, do not know about any danger to human health in this state. When there is immediate danger, he begins to blame the tour operator that he was not notified of this danger," he explained.
