Three whales decided to create a Union and attract professional business travel agencies to it

Moscow
July 2020

The largest Russian consolidator in passenger transportation, the Vipservice holding, the market leader in organizing business travel Aeroclub and the largest Russian hotel consolidator Academservice announce the creation of a professional union of companies providing services in the field of business travel, and call on the rest of the market to unite. The union of three representatives of large business of the Russian Federation aims to adequately represent and protect the interests of the industry in dialogue with suppliers, customers and the state. 

“Today, more than ever, it is important to understand and delineate our industry, rebuilding it from related ones, for example, from tourism. The lack of clear boundaries translates into additional insurance payments and excessive financial guarantees, which negatively affect the economy of each TMS,” says Alexander Spirin, a shareholder of the Vipservice holding.

“Our project describing the market and analyzing its main players, which we carried out together with RBC in 2019, showed that an inventory of business travel and the Mays industry is necessary. Today it is hindered by the lack of trust of market participants in each other. We will try to create conditions for the emergence of this professional trust and strengthening it,” continues the owner of the Aeroclub Denis Matyukhin.

“Such a professional union, independent and not under the flag of any of the parties, created to protect the interests of the industry, is important to us, its suppliers. It is extremely effective to have a platform for exchange of views and negotiations with an organization whose members represent more than half of the total turnover of the industry,” says Leonid Isakovich, owner of Academservice.

The issues of professional ethics, industry quality standards, the fight against zero and hidden fees, protection against unfair customer behavior - this is not the whole list of issues on the agenda of the Union. The name chosen for the Union is symbolic - "Garden". “We do not want to create another meaningless and aimless association for show, our union will bear fruit,” the founders say.