The expert spoke about the insurance covering extreme excursions

Standard insurance, which is included in the package by all Russian tour operators, covers only basic medical expenses in the amount of 40-60 thousand dollars. However, extended insurance is required for activities such as diving, surfing, downhill skiing or diving. Aleksan Mkrtchyan, Vice President of the Alliance of Travel Agencies Association, told Izvestia about this on April 17.

On April 17, a Russian tourist told Izvestia that she had been the victim of a shark attack in the Maldives during an excursion. According to the victim, she had travel insurance, but the insurance company refused to cover medical expenses.

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"If I was just swimming in the ocean, it would be some kind of force majeure, then they would probably cover it. And since there was some kind of excursion aimed at this, they don't seem to be responsible for it, that is, you take the risk yourself, realizing that something could happen to you. <...> That's how they explained it to me," the tourist said.

Mkrtchyan also explained that additional risks, including a possible encounter with sharks while diving, must be paid separately. On average, such insurance costs no more than one thousand rubles per day.

He stated that if the insurance company refuses to cover the costs of treatment after an extreme tour, you should go to court.

"But this usually doesn't happen if you have extended insurance. Insurers usually avoid publicity. It often even happens, by the way, that we need to make it public — there were so many stories when we started writing about it through the media and the insurance company immediately agreed," Mkrtchyan said.

Earlier, on April 16, a hotel guest in Hurghada told Izvestia about the terrible unsanitary conditions. According to her, the dirt was in the dining room, in the bar. Besides, it stank terribly, and the dishes were sticky. According to the guest, she took boiling water, poured it into plates to process them, and had to do the same with cutlery.