The Federal Agency for Tourism, leading industry associations in the field of tourism and tour operators, as well as a specialized committee of the State Duma concluded a special charter, which deals with travel commitments that did not take place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"In accordance with the Charter, tour operators declare their intention by December 31, 2022 to ensure the fulfillment of all contracts concluded before March 31, 2020 to tourists by providing an equivalent tourist product, replacing it as agreed with the tourist, or refunding funds," Rostourism on its website.
The document was signed by the representatives of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia and the Russian Tourist Union - key industry associations in the field of tourism, as well as such large tour operators as Anex, Tez Tour and PAC GROUP.
More than 90 percent of tour operators have already joined the Charter, which still have obligations to citizens for tours purchased before March 31, 2020.
The Federal Agency for Tourism together with the State Duma Committee on Tourism take personal control of the situation with the fulfillment of the remaining obligations of tour operators.
"The Federal Agency for Tourism and industry associations of tour operators will publish information on the reduction of obligations on an ongoing basis," said the agency's website.
The department recalled that the State Duma recently passed a bill allowing the government to extend the deferral for tour operators to refund money for tours that were canceled due to the pandemic until the end of 2022.
We are talking about tours purchased before March 31, 2020, while the postponement is extended only for tours to those countries that are still closed for travel for tourism purposes (mainly countries in Europe and Southeast Asia), noted in The Federal Agency for Tourism.
“The deferral in force this year has already allowed tour operators to close more than 80 percent of the 2020 debts to tourists. During this time, the debt of 2020 to tourists has decreased 6 times, from 44 to 7 billion rubles. About 1.1 million people out of 1.3 million people who bought tours were able to go on vacation or get money back. At the same time, about half of the tour operators fully fulfilled their obligations to tourists, and the tour operator market avoided massive bankruptcies,” the agency said.
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