Subsidies were brought to the export of tourists – Newspaper Kommersant No. 153 (7354) of 08/23/2022

The tourist authorities have begun collecting applications and calculating subsidies that should compensate businesses for the costs of the spring export of compatriots from abroad. Real payments on the market are expected in December, their total amount may reach 6 billion rubles. At the same time, the tour operators themselves owe customers another 19.8 billion rubles. for canceled trips due to sanctions. This year it will be possible to repay only half of the obligations, the market fears.

Rostourism in August will start issuing subsidies to reimburse tour operators for the costs incurred during the export of travelers from abroad in the spring. This is stated in the response of the department to the appeal of Opora Rossii (Kommersant has a copy). For these payments, at the end of April, the government allocated 6 billion rubles from the reserve fund to Rostourism.

Alexei Kozhevnikov, vice-president of Opora Rossii, explains that all major tour operators took out tourists at their own expense, but no one has yet received payments.

Now the collection of applications has begun, which will last until September 12, he said. In Anex Tour, “Kommersant” did not answer. Fun&Sun declined to comment, Tez Tour said they were collecting and preparing documents for subsidies.

The export of tourists was required after a sharp restriction of air traffic against the backdrop of the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine and subsequent Western sanctions. At the end of March, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko said that 117 thousand people received assistance with returning to the country. The press service of Rostourism explained that the collection of applications for subsidies will last until mid-September. From October, the department expects to start real payments. These funds will help tour operators expedite the repayment of debt on “sanctioned tours”, according to Rostourism.

The interlocutor of Kommersant in the tourism market believes that the collection of information will take several months from the authorities. “Based on the experience of the pandemic, it can be assumed that real payments will begin in December,” he believes. Kommersant’s source admits that only 3.5–4 billion rubles will actually be paid, since businesses are unlikely to be able to confirm the costs of a large amount. According to him, during the pandemic, the travel industry was simply refunded money for charter flights, now the perimeter also includes tickets for flights of foreign carriers, funds spent on hotel stays, etc.

Meanwhile, tour operators themselves still owe tourists. As stated in the letter from Rostourism, as of July, debts for tours purchased before March 4 amounted to 19.8 billion rubles.

Georgy Mokhov, chairman of the legal committee of the Russian Union of Tourism Industry, notes that the business “continues to resolve these issues with clients within the framework of the current legislation” that regulates the procedure for payments.

According to Mr. Mokhov, the main difficulty is that part of the departure airports in Russia is still closed, and the cost of tours has increased. “Tourists are offered to make an additional payment and go on a trip, but not everyone is satisfied with this option, and companies have no free money against the backdrop of ongoing restrictions,” he says. The expert notes that as a result, “the deadline for the implementation of the obligations of tour operators is often shifted.” The interlocutor of Kommersant in the market believes that this year the business will be able to fulfill its obligations by about 10 billion rubles.

Georgy Mokhov adds that only 10% of the number of clients who could not go on tours are trying to recover funds through the courts. According to him, the court may take the side of the tourist, but if we are talking about a small operator who has no money in his accounts, the client will not receive anything and will only incur legal costs. The representative of OnlineTur.ru Igor Blinov confirms that “in general, there are no conflict situations, although initially the tourists reacted emotionally.” As a result, clients, he said, agreed to go on trips at a surcharge or shift travel dates.

According to estimates given in the letter of Rostourism, another 4.2 billion rubles. as of July, tour operators have not paid for tours disrupted during the pandemic. According to Georgy Mokhov, we are talking about obligations that have been preserved in areas that have been closed so far. According to the government decree, the business must pay off before 2023, he clarifies, however, many tour operators have not yet restored their turnover, and the money paid for tourists remained with their partners abroad.

Alexandra Mertsalova