Federal Media Overview

The main travel topic this week have been the events in Georgia. Dmitry Gorin commented on the situation of Russian tourists given the ban of passenger flights to and from Georgia.

Moscow-24 TV channel covered the topic of ticket refunds and returns. "Travel companies stopped selling tours to Georgia on 21 June. Tour operators refund 100% of the costs to customers. Independent travellers should also be easy to tackle for airlines: after 8 July, all carriers should issue refunds free of extra fees", — Dmitry said. (video from 1:57.)

In an interview with Channel One Russia, Dmitry Gorin stated that airlines are prepared to bring Russian citizens back to the country from Georgia via neighbouring states after 8 July."Aeroflot, for example, has already offered to do that", — said the Head of Vipservice. (full article)

On Radio 1, Dmitry Gorin said that Rostourism had set up a hotline for tourists, but there had been no complaints yet. He also spoke about alternative destinations for tourists. "Given the summer season, companies offer alternative solutions to travellers, and many people decide to switch to another country instead of getting a refund, for example going to Russian resorts, Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, Cyprus, and others. Right now we recommend Bulgaria because it has similar prices to Georgia, comparable to, for example, a tour to Batumi", — said Dmitry. (full article)

In an interview with Moskovskij Komsomolets, Dmitry Gorin pointed out that Georgia is not closed for Russian tourists and they can still visit the country, just not via direct flights.He also mentioned that the overall situation may have a favourable effect on the prices for trips to Georgia. (full article)