Federal Media Overview

Dmitry Gorin and the hosts of "Utro Rossii" TV programme on Russia-1 discussed the idea of creating a government-owned tour operator. According to Dmitry, the Vice President of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia and the CEO of Vipservice, this concept has been discussed before, but the company does not support it.

"I'm sorry to say that last year 1% of Russian tourists did suffer from the actions of dishonest agencies, but in most cases, it was our business that managed to solve those problems. We have an emergency fund with 400 million roubles and a personal responsibility fund with over a billion roubles. I'm convinced that the problems will be minimised: dishonest companies are leaving the market, and the Federal Agency for Tourism now has the authority to eliminate such companies from the federal register of tour operators," said Dmitry. (Full discussion available at the link, starting from 3:55)

30–40% price fall for unsold tours until 5 August. Tours to Bulgaria, the Dominican Republic, Cyprus, Thailand, and Vietnam have become cheaper. "Russia also has hot travel offers. For example, a trip for two to Sochi (Krasnodar Krai) for 25 thousand roubles. Just make sure you always check that the agency is legal and credible. It has to be listed on the Federal Agency for Tourism website or on Turpomoshch," Dmitry Gorin said in an interview with Moscow-24 TV channel.
(More details here)

With regards to delayed flights of Azur Air: Anex Tour and the airline are now covering the costs of hotels and delayed connected flights. "Anex Tour and Azur Air are willing to address the complaints and compensate all passengers of delayed flights who lost their connected flights and did not use hotel services during the wait," Dmitry Gorin said to RIA Novosti.

The main topic of "Otrazheniye" TV programme on OTR (Public Television of Russia) was exotic and dangerous tours, including those to Chernobyl. Dmitry Gorin who took part in the programme pointed out that legal tour operators do not offer such travel options as they are legally liable for the tourists' safety. For those who are bored with regular holidays by the sea, Dmitry suggested more unusual trips across Russia: going to Lake Baikal, the Russian Far East, exploring smaller cities around Moscow and in other parts of the country, or trying out eco- or auto-tourism. "When it comes to domestic tourism, the main question is the flight prices. Tour operators have now finally gained support from the government. I'm talking about the subsidies, which have been available in air travel for many years now. Now we can get these subsidies and offer one to nine thousand roubles of discount for tourists," said Dmitry Gorin, Adviser to the Head of Federal Tourism. (Full discussion at the link)