The Federal Tourism Agency excluded 29 tour operators from the Russian register, among them several regional operators under the brands “Pegasus”, “T O Coral Travel Center”, “Russian Express”, “Natalie Tours” and others. This does not mean that all “Coral Travel” and “Natalie Tours” have stopped working - only some.
If you have a voucher and an agreement with a tour operator, check the tour operator’s legal entity with the registry. If it is not on the registry, call the travel agency and ask how they are doing.
Don't panic, everyone will fly away ✈️
Excluded companies will no longer operate in the outbound tourism industry. However, they did not close or go bankrupt, but continue to fulfill their obligations to tourists.
Why were they expelled?
In 2017, all tour operators must create personal liability funds, which will act as additional insurance for tourists. If a tour operator goes bankrupt or suspends operations, tourists will not suffer.
The size of the fund depends on the size of the tour operator, its maximum is 7% of the annual turnover. Until January 31, all operators had to make a minimum entry fee of 100 thousand rubles. Those who did not pay were excluded from the register.
What should I do if my tour operator is not on the register?
First, make sure that the operator is really not in the registry. The fact is that many large companies create several legal entities under one brand at once. Therefore, carefully check the name of the operator in your contract with the one written on the Rostourism website.
Even if your tour operator is indeed excluded, do not rush to panic. Contact the agency where you purchased your trip. Your agent should check with the tour operator for details. If the holiday does not take place, the tour operator must compensate for the damage.
What and when should I do to get my money back?
If you are sure that your tour operator will not be able to send you on vacation, do not wait for the start date of the trip, but immediately demand compensation for damages.
First, write a written request to the tour operator. In your request, please indicate your personal data, contract details, dates and other details of the failed trip, and the amount of compensation.
If the tour operator refuses or cannot refund the cost of the trip, find information about financial security in the contract. You need to find out which company has insured the tour operator's liability or provided it with a bank guarantee. Please write your next request to this company.
If a bank guarantee or insurance is not enough to compensate for the damage, you can write a third demand - to the association "Tour Pomosch", which manages the tour operator's personal liability fund.
So you don't have to worry?
No need to worry. Although the personal liability fund will become fully operational only after 7 years, during the transition period tourists have triple protection: insurance or a bank guarantee, a personal liability fund and reserve fund"Tourist assistance".
Tour operators excluded from the Unified Register are urgently reformatting their work on the Russian tourism market, transferring their main activities to other legal entities, which were not deleted from the register.
Thus, from January 1, 2016, booking of the Coral Travel travel product is carried out by Tour Operator Coral Travel Center LLC, Sunmar Tour will operate on behalf of the legal entity Operator of Advantageous Tours Sunmar LLC, Pegas Touristik will operate on behalf of the remaining 11 tour operators in the register and offers travel agencies enter into additional agreements with Pegas Touristik Moscow LLC and Pegas LLC.
At the time of publication of the note, Anex Tour had not informed the agencies which legal entity would continue to operate after the decision to exclude a number of tour operators from the register came into force.
On December 30, a decree approving the list was published on the official government website individual species work, the performance of which is prohibited on the territory of Russia for organizations under the jurisdiction of Turkey or controlled by Turkish citizens or organizations. The list of works includes travel agency and tour operator activities.
On the evening of December 30 Federal agency on tourism excluded 19 legal entities from the unified register of tour operators, some of which operated on the market under the brands Pegas Touristik, Anex Tour, Coral Travel, Sunmar Tour.
The department linked its decision to anti-Turkish sanctions, which prohibit the work of travel companies, one way or another connected with Turkey.
However, of all the excluded tour operators, only two tour operators currently have obvious Turkish roots - Coral Travel and Sunmar Tour, the founder and owner of which is the Istanbul holding OTI Holding.
For other legal entities the situation is different. Thus, legal entities operating under the Pegas Touristik brand until recently had Turkish citizens among their founders and owners, according to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities: for example, the owner of Pegas Tours LLC was listed as Turkish citizen Bilgin Cem Kadir, the majority owner of Pegas Kazan LLC was a Turkish citizen Dyryk Emine, owner of Pegas Retail LLC - Akpinar Ramazan. But in December of this year constituent documents These companies have been changed, and the owners are now Russian citizens. Regarding the nationality of the beneficiaries tour operator Anex Tour, then both companies excluded from the register - Anex Regions LLC and Anex Tour Moscow LLC - belonged to the company Atlas B.V., registered in the Netherlands, and no changes were made to the information about the founders over the last year.
All four tour operators - Pegas Touristik, Anex Tour, Coral Travel, Sunmar Tour - announced the continuation of work “as usual.”
Moreover, as Gazeta.Ru was told by two Moscow travel agencies, all tour operators intend to continue selling tourism products after January 1, that is, after the decision to exclude them from the register comes into force. In addition, the companies announced that they are working on restoring the registry. To do this, they need to send documents to Rostourism. In the near future, the companies intend to send documents to Rostourism confirming the absence of participation of Turkish citizens or legal entities in the company’s activities. The question remains how tour operators Coral Travel and Sunmar Tour will prove this, which so far, according to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, belong to a Turkish holding.
Meanwhile, yesterday's announcement caused panic among tourism market participants.
“Rosturizm did a great job of congratulating Russians on the New Year, creating almost panic on tourist market. We get calls from different cities from tourists who are interested in the fate of their paid trips, and from travel agencies who don’t know what to answer to tourists,” said the press secretary of the Russian Union of Travel Industry (). According to her, tourists began to cancel tours purchased from tour operators that were excluded from the federal register.
The cessation of work by the largest players in the industry, which did not happen, but which was actively discussed as a possibility in the past 24 hours, could not only deal a blow to the tourism industry, but also seriously shake the aviation segment.
All excluded tour operators worked in close conjunction with the airlines. Thus, Pegas Touristik worked with Nord Wind and Ikar, Anex Tour - with Azur Air (since 2015, part of the Anex Tourism Group holding, previously owned and operated under the Katekavia brand), Coral Travel and Sunmar Tour - with Royal Flight, as well as "". For a number of air carriers operating primarily charter flights, it was tour operators who acted as the main customers for transportation. The loss of the sales market threatens airlines with the downtime of part of the aircraft fleet, while leasing payments will continue to accrue.
While Rostourism emphasizes that all agreements on implementation tourism product, concluded with tour operators directly or through travel agents before the exclusion of information from the register, that is, before January 1, must be executed. Excluded tour operators also say that tourists who have already purchased tour packages will be sent on vacation.
The unanswered question is whether tour operators will face a sharp drop in demand from fearful agencies and tourists during the already low season that will follow. New Year's holidays.
This can lead to shortages working capital to continue operating at the end of January, because blocks of hotel rooms and charter bookings are paid for, although in advance, but not until the end of the entire season. Meanwhile, many tourists have already started booking tours for next summer.
At the same time, all excluded tour operators have already suffered from the closure of sales of tours to Egypt, then to Turkey. The money of tourists who paid for tours to these countries was kept in annual deposits for use in other areas in which these tour operators operated. One can only guess how issues related to sending such tourists on vacation will be resolved.
“The tourist should be offered something that he cannot organize on his own”
Dmitry FOMINTSEV
"TurTransVoyage"
CEO
The lady came to this holiday with our group, and the next year we met her there as the wife of the winemaker - she received our tourists with him! Another tourist met her love - an Italian - in Venice, where the group spent only 9 hours.
Svetlana DROZDOVA
"Russian Express"
Director of the FIT Department
“The market specifically in the individual tourism sector lacked accessible technologies that would allow us to work quickly. Russian Express offered them: it became more convenient for agents. They trust us with their precious VIP clients"“We have an excellent team - many have been working for more than 10 years, and some have been working since the opening of the hotel”
Svetlana MIKHALEVSKAYA
Azimut Hotel Olympic
CEO
Most likely, this is the result of stable demand for trips to Moscow from Russians. And we have a lot of returning guests. Last year, the Azimut chain updated its loyalty program, and it bore fruit. Although people, of course, come to us not because of bonus points, but for the sake of high level service“There are a lot of uncontrollable risks in the tourism business”
Elena VOROPAYEVA
Olymp Consult
director
The main reason for selling a business has not changed, but the value has dropped significantly - 10-11 years ago average price agency was about 2-3 million rubles, since then they have fallen in price by 10-15% annually, and now, in fact, they are sold at the cost of furniture and office equipment. Average bill– about 600 thousand rubles“What we came up with for selling excursions in Serpukhov can be useful to any small town”
Yuri YASCHUK
Golden domes
director
If a city offers different group excursions and they can be selected at the trip planning stage, this may affect the occupancy of hotels, restaurants, souvenir sales, etc. This approach can surpass the effect of event tourism“By organizing a massive distribution of souvenirs, exhibitors themselves attract non-target audiences to their stands”
Artem CHERNYSHOV
MITT
director
An exhibition is an expensive thing, so hire professionals for these three days who can properly answer questions and give necessary information. Only in this case is there a chance that visitors will become your partners“We are the first to invite Russian tourists to celebrate New Year in Nazareth"
Anastasia STARIKOVSKI
Hotel Ramada Nazareth
director of international sales
Nazareth is one of the holiest places in the world, where Jesus Christ grew up. The city has many churches, such as the stunningly beautiful Church of the Annunciation with a unique mosaic depicting the Madonna and Child. The atmosphere in the city during the New Year and Christmas holidays is special“Attending an industry exhibition by professional players has not lost its relevance”
Artem CHERNYSHOV
MITT
director
Exhibitions reflect the state of the market as a whole. The ruble is falling, there are fewer tourists. Our market is overheated, the number of agencies and tour operators is clearly excessive. It is clear that they opened in lean times, but now the situation has changed“Hoteliers have the privilege of working 24 hours a day”
Cornelia BRINKMAN
Marriott Novy Arbat, Courtyard City Center
general manager
Not all young people are ready to give up parties with friends for an unscheduled visit, and treat the client as the only one, even if he is the three hundredth one checking in today. This needs to be taught. Therefore, we pay a lot of attention to interns and rely on them“In Tottori Prefecture you can see the real Japan”
Dina DERGUNOVA
Frigate Aero Tours
director of tourism
Hotels opened by foreigners are also in demand because many visitors to Japan face a language problem: in small towns it is difficult to speak English. Muscovites do not expect to meet Russians and are usually interested in how we got here. But the Japanese themselves are most surprised“Russian travel agencies are buying up blocks of seats on cruises to the Arctic and Antarctic”
Marina VLASOVA
Poseidon Expeditions
CEO
Now, by the way, is the time to offer such cruises. A few years ago, clients were surprised when we said in November that there were no more places to go to Antarctica for the New Year. Today Russian market I’m used to the fact that these trips need to be booked a year and a half in advance“The arrival of Hilton in the regions is shaking up local hotels”
Vladimir ILICHEV
Hilton Worldwide in Russia and CIS
Managing Director for Development
I won’t lie, we encourage tourists to make direct bookings on our websites. After all, when accessing online services, loyalty program participants do not receive bonus points. In addition, on our official resources the price is 2-3% lower“The key trend in the hostel market is the blurring of boundaries between formats”
Natalya ROSENBLUM
Top Hotel Experts
managing partner
Whichever locality No matter what, for the development of hostels there must initially be both business and tourist life. If people go to the city only on a business trip, then people limit themselves to old hotels and hostels"Infoflot" is a supermarket that offers more than 3 thousand river and sea cruises
Andrey MIKHAILOVSKY
"Infoflot"
general director
We have more than 6 thousand agencies throughout the country. I think we managed to achieve such a result because we ourselves started as an agency, we are familiar with all the difficulties that stand on this path. Accordingly, we know ways to overcome them“We packed the hotel for the opening like a debutante for a ball”
Svetlana MIKHALEVSKAYA
Holiday Inn Express Moscow Paveletskaya
general manager
The Holiday Inn Express brand standards stipulate fundamentally new format service. For example, we do not have a division between office functions and F&B work. That is, any employee must be able to check in a guest, pour him coffee, and heat up soup“The World Cup is an excellent chance for the development of inbound tourism in Russia”
Sergei VOYTOVICH
"Your vehicle"
director
In the second week of November: starts on November 7 in Lima, followed by Buenos Aires on November 9, Montevideo on November 10 and Sao Paulo in Brazil on November 14. We will be able to present programs and packages for tourists and fans to local tour operators, talk about the simplified procedure for entering our country using a fan passport (Fan Id)
On December 30, Rostourism announced the exclusion of 19 companies from the Federal Register of Tour Operators. Among those excluded were quite large and well-known tour operators, which could not but cause concern among many tourists who bought or booked a vacation through these companies.
The reason for the exclusion was the decree of the President of the Russian Federation banning the operation of companies controlled by Turkish citizens in the Russian Federation.
The following tour operators were included in the list of excluded ones:
Renaissance Property Management LLC, ATTIDA TRAVEL LLC, PEGAS TOURS LLC, Pegas Kazan LLC, Pegas Ufa LLC, PEGAS Yekaterinburg LLC, Pegas Krasnodar LLC, Pegas Samara LLC, LLC "PEGAS-KEMEROVO", LLC "Pegas Perm", LLC "Pegas Retail", LLC "Pegas Khabarovsk", LLC "Pegas Surgut", LLC "Anex Regions", LLC "Anex Tour Moscow", LLC "Bentur Moscow", LLC "Pegas Touristik", LLC "SANMAR TOUR", LLC "Coral Travel".
Tourists who purchased vouchers from these organizations were quick to reassure that the state would control that all obligations for vouchers purchased before January 1, 2016 were fulfilled in full.
However, it is not clear by what criteria this list was created. For example, the press secretary of the Russian Union of Tour Operators Irina Tyurina said that some companies from the specified list are completely Russian, and their exclusion from Federal list unreasonably. Rostourism, in response to this statement, replied that after the holidays, that is, after 10 days of rest, the disputed companies can be added back to the register, provided that they can provide Required documents. That is, no one bothered to check the documents before compiling such a list.
It turns out that Rostourism allows for the fact that “innocent” companies could have been included in the list, but the fact that during the holidays due to this error companies may suffer losses, and tourists may have their mood and impressions of the upcoming holiday spoiled is considered quite normal, the site reports.
It should be noted that the brands Coral Travel, Sunmar Tour and Pegas have separate subsidiaries that are not included in the prohibited list, since they are completely Russian. They have every right to sell vacation packages from January 1, 2016, which they notified clients about on their official websites. You can verify this personally by going to the official website of Rostourism and viewing the Unified Federal Register of Tour Operators.
Therefore, there are reasons for concern, but not as serious as it might seem at first glance. The news that caused panic turned out to be more like another hoax aimed at destabilizing the situation in the tourism market. The situation of ambiguity is more worrying. We'll see how the issue is ultimately resolved after the holidays.
