DUBAI, November 16 (Sputnik) — The Russian government decision on tour operators returning all the documents to customers just a day before the journey planned reduces travelers' risks from 30 to 40 percent, Russian Union of Travel Industry (RUTI) Deputy Head Yury Barzykin said.
"These measures do already eliminate the risks of tourists by 30-40 percent. They are already in place in the form of a normative act. Now they need to be incorporated into a bill. Currently we need to include those proposals which can be solved now and on which there have already been agreements reached," Barzykin stated Sunday.
Barzykin made the comment at a RUTI meeting in Dubai, which started on November 15 and is to continue through November 18. He noted that the situation that occurred in Russia's touristic industry in 2014 was due to the absence of preventive measures prescribed by the legislation.
The halting or ceasing of operations by Russian tour operators has been happening frequently of late. From mid-summer till September, a number of operators stopped working as a result of which around 130,000 citizens suffered, according to the RUTI. Russian insurance providers on bankruptcy have estimated the total sum of the losses to exceed four billion rubles ($85 million).