If the draft of the new law “On Tourism” is adopted, it will be much more difficult for new tour operators to “enter” the market, Izvestia was told in the Russian Union of Tourism Industry (PCT). One of the reasons for this is that new domestic tourism operators will have to insure their activities for 25 million rubles. In this case, the insurance premium will amount to at least 1.5 million rubles, Yury Barzykin, Vice President of the PCT, noted in an interview with Izvestia.
“That is, the amount of financial support is proposed to be increased from 500 thousand rubles to 25 million – 50 times. For domestic tourism, this is an absolutely unbearable requirement that cannot be met. No one will insure the tour operator for this amount,” he said.
Georgy Mokhov, head of the PCT Legal Commission, agreed with Yuri Barzykin. In his opinion, such a measure could provoke companies to operate illegally.
“The threshold of 25 million is clearly an erroneous proposal. New companies will not be able to enter the market “in the white” and will start working “in the black,” the lawyer is sure.
The experts’ arguments were countered by the Federal Tourism Agency.
“We are raising the threshold for entering the tour operator market. The ability of a new tour operator to insure its obligations is an additional indicator of its financial stability. Now anyone can create a travel agency for domestic tourism, buy insurance for 25 thousand rubles, collect obligations in excess of 500 thousand rubles, and then close and leave tourists with nothing – without a trip, and without money, ”commented “Izvestia” in the department.
Earlier, in an interview with Izvestia, the head of Rostourism, Zarina Doguzova, said that when finalizing the draft law on tourism, all constructive proposals from market representatives would be taken into account. According to Yuri Barzykin, the introduction of the bill for consideration by the government has been postponed from February to June 1, 2022.
More details in the Izvestia article:
“Tour outflow: the industry warned about a 20% increase in travel costs”
Source: IZ
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
