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Medvedev to hold conference on protecting tourists from unscrupulous tour operators

The need to take urgent measures to straighten things out on the travel market arose after bankruptcy of a number of Russian tour operators

© ITAR-TASS/Alexander Astafiev

MOSCOW, September 03. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will hold a conference Wednesday to discuss ways to improve the regulatory framework in the sphere of outbound tourism.

The need to take urgent measures to straighten things out on the travel market arose after bankruptcy in the July-August period of 2014 of a number of Russian tour operators, such as "Labyrinth", "Rose of WindsWorld", "Ideal-Tour", "Neva", "Expo-Tour", and "Nordic Star". The Investigating Committee has instituted criminal proceedings against those companies on the strength of signs of fraud and facts of unlawful financing of travel operations.

As a result of the activities of those operators, tens of thousands of Russian tourists encountered great problems abroad. The government press service points out that, resultant of resources of the compensatory fund of the Tour Assistance Association from foreign countries, 22,620 tourists were taken home and 40 evacuation air flights were arranged to an aggregate sum of 218.2 million roubles.

The government press service points out, "The refinement of the regulatory framework for outbound tourism will make it possible to bring to light tour operators whose financial operations are of risky nature and may lead to the impossibility of fulfilment of their financial obligations to the consumers of tourism product, and will also promote the development of inland and inbound tourism resultant of a re-orientation of demand and offer on the market of travel services".

The following persons will take part in the conference: Vice-Premier Olga Golodets, Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky, Minister of Economic Development Aleksey ULyukayev, Rospotrednadzor (Federal Service for Supervision of Consumers Protection and Welfare) chief Anna Popova, acting Director of the Federal Tourism Agency Oleg Safonov, representatives of executive power bodies and those of the Office of Prosecutor General.

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