The Association of Tour Operators of Russia announced the number of victims of the problems of Natalie Tours and the bankruptcy of DSBW
Maya Lomidze, Executive Director of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) at a press conference said that the share of both announced tour operators in the domestic market was recently less than 1%. In her opinion, the general media tantrum over Natalie Tours’ problems and the bankruptcy of DSBW refers to the “magic of the brand” rather than the volumes they actually occupied in the market.
The DSBW had a total of about 1,000 tourists, 200-250 of them abroad, the rest were not on vacation.
Natalie Tours is talking about 3.5 thousand tourists abroad. The number of people on the canceled tours until the end of September was 10 thousand. At the same time, I would like to emphasize that hardly 10%, that is, only about 350 people, got into the most difficult situation with unpaid hotels.
Some host companies have expressed their desire to help already departed travelers, as well as those who have not surrendered tickets and are ready to pay for their vacation once again. For example, in Thailand and Cuba – but on a repayment check, then you will need to collect money from the tour operator, and this will not be quick.
M. Lomidze told about the situation with charters. “It is not a question of whole aircraft, but only of blocks of seats on flights. Accordingly, there are no associated risks for other tour operators, as it was in 2014.
ATOR experts do not see anyone from the travel market in the “risk zone”, because what happened is not a systemic problem, but a crisis of certain companies that did not arise yesterday.
The expert says the "calls" started in 2015 - separate issues with non-payments, etc., but "it seemed like problems were being solved."
ATOR Executive Director: We did not expect that this situation, primarily with Natalie Tours, would cause such a stir in our media. Probably, the magic of the brand played a role - a travel company on the market since the 90s, she had money for television advertising, as a result, the image "with chamomile" became very recognizable.
As a result, the situation is desired PR politicians with absurd bills – for example, Zhirinovsky with a “smoky” proposal for one state tour operator.
"There is only one thing we can say about this - either we are in market conditions, or we are in some other system that does not guarantee the quality of services at all," Lomidze said.
Tips for Tourists and Travel Agencies: As for DSBW: “Orbita is the sole insurance guarantor of DSBW-Tours confirms that payments will be made.” According to preliminary estimates, the insurance coverage of 50 million rubles should be enough in full.”
The instructions for tourists and travel agents are executed correctly, there are no violations of the laws. Tourists have the right to either agree to warranty obligations, or in the first place to expect monetary compensation, but we can assume that this queue will be long.
Forecast M. Lomidze: “Obviously, the desire of the tour operator to maintain its brand and stay on the market. As for the forecasts for Natalie Tours, whether they will be able to recover in the market will largely depend on how they do with the payment of compensation to tourists. If this is delayed, if there are many incomprehensible maneuvers, if there are offended agencies, then “the market remembers everything”, and even in the smallest volumes it will be very difficult to “surface”.