Dmitry Gorin and State Duma deputy Sergey Krivonosov discuss digital services in tourism

Sergey Krivonosov, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee for Physical Education, Sport, Tourism and Youth Affairs, invited Dmitry Gorin, Vipservice Holding CEO and advisor to the head of Federal Agency for Tourism, and the management of Altura to discuss questions related to the introduction and operation of the unified information system of electronic vouchers. Sergey pointed out that the legislative framework for making electronic vouchers mandatory for tour operators and travel agencies should protect the interests of customers, businesses and the state.

"The operator of the Electronic Voucher system has not yet been determined. As soon as that is done, the system will be ready for launch. Some companies previously mentioned that the system was too expensive and overcomplicated. Their comments will be taken into consideration when the system is prepared for launch and tested," said the deputy.

The introduction of the Electronic Voucher system will help make the travel market fully transparent and free of illegal activities, because tour operators will be obliged to input every tour they sell into the system. The system will also increase tourist protection, because right now companies often lack sufficient funds for compensation payments due to the tour prices being put too low. Experts say that tour operators show 10 % of all tour sales. The total loss for tourists from tour operators going bankrupt is 2.5 billion rubles, and the insurance payments only covered 20 % of that amount.