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- With full responsibility: tour operators ask for access to the funds of the insurance fund
With full responsibility: tour operators ask for access to the funds of the insurance fund
Tour operators offer to compensate for the costs of massive flight delays at the expense of the Personal Responsibility Fund, created to protect the interests of tourists in the event of company bankruptcies. This was stated by the participants of the III International Congress of Tour Operators, held in Sochi at the end of November. The relevant committee of the State Duma supported this proposal, pointing out that such a decision does not contradict the original objectives of the FPO and at the same time will help support market players who face difficulties. Read more about the proposed mechanism, as well as who compensates tourists for date postponements today, in the Izvestia article.
Who helps tourists with flight cancellations
Representatives of several major market players spoke at the congress about the need to adapt to security measures that are currently being applied not only in Russia, but also in other countries of the world.
— There is, for example, a successful Carpet plan at one of the airports. This means that there will be a rolling delay in the future. And everything that follows from this — the extension of tourists, transfers, and so on — will be at the expense of operators," Anna Podgornaya, CEO of Pegasus Tourism, told the congress participants.
Most large operators adhere to the principles of social responsibility and, accordingly, bear all costs in such situations, Alexander Sirchenko, Deputy Director General for Government Relations and Communications at Fun & Sun, confirmed during his speech at one of the congress meetings.
In Russia, massive flight delays occurred in the summer. Similar situations have also developed earlier due to the aggravation of the situation in the Middle East, for example, delays in flights to the UAE and Egypt last spring and flights to Qatar this fall.
Corporate clients take such risks and are more prepared for such situations, ordinary tourists in such cases face not only burnt-out nights at the hotel, but sometimes with a shortened vacation, Vitaly Holgin, General director of the Tatarstan company Tavs, told Izvestia.
According to him, tourists traveling with their families become especially vulnerable — in this case, the damage can be especially sensitive, and such travelers have less flexibility.
— In all these cases, tour operators work closely with them, — said Vitaly Holgin. — It's a huge burden for them.
At the same time, the congress participants emphasize, we are not talking about seeking financial assistance from the state.
"I perfectly understand the general need to use my own funds," Anna Podgornaya said in her speech. — But in this case, we need permission to use funds from the FPO.
What is a Personal Responsibility Fund?
The Personal Responsibility Fund was established in 1996 to protect the interests of tourists in the event of the bankruptcy of a travel company.
It is formed by annual contributions from participating companies in the amount of 1% of the total price of the tourist product over the past year. Now, after the mass absenteeism of tourists in the summer of 2025, as a measure of support, contributions have been temporarily reduced to 0.75%. The congress participants also asked to reduce contributions to 0.5% and extend the preferential treatment until the spring of 2026.
Currently, the volume of FPO is 5.7 billion rubles, said Alexander Osaulenko, director of the Turpomosh Association.
At the same time, a similar practice of redirecting the fund's funds was already used in 2020, he recalled in a conversation with Izvestia.
— We had a situation with the closure of borders in 2020, when the pandemic began. And then the government allowed these funds to be used, among other things, to compensate for expenses," he notes.
The main concerns of skeptics are related to a possible decrease in the volume of FPO, but operators are ready to make up for the money spent at the end of each quarter, said the director of the National Union of Travel Industry Professionals Vladimir Kaganer.
— This is a lot of money, which is now a dead weight. Moreover, this is money that is increasing from year to year," he recalled. — We ask the regulator to give operators the opportunity to use their own funds, we do not ask for additional funds for ourselves.
The publication also contacted the Ministry of Economic Development, which regulates the activities of the tourism industry, with a request to comment on this initiative, but no response had been received by the time the material was published.
What changes to the legislation will be needed
The main legal nuance, according to Osaulenko, is that today the funds in the fund are intended to be used directly in the event of bankruptcy of a travel company to protect the interests of its tourists.
According to the current law, tour operators cannot use FPO funds to compensate for such expenses, Natalia Kostenko, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Tourism, confirmed to Izvestia. However, according to her, such use is close to the foundation's originally stated goals.
If the plane did not take off on time due to security measures at Russian or foreign airports, this means that the travel operator loses some of the armor, which he must create anew, respectively, incur losses, she recalls.
— But we have not seen any bankruptcies [for which a fund has been created] for many years. Therefore, I believe that this is quite a real mechanism in case of potential bankruptcy and, consequently, non—fulfillment of obligations to tourists," she shared in a conversation with Izvestia.
For this, however, certain legislative changes are needed, the Izvestia interlocutor points out.
— It is necessary to provide for the kind of reasons for which, for example, a company can take money from the FPO, — Natalia Kostenko noted.
According to Alexander Osaulenko, it will not be necessary to make significant changes to the law in order to improve the current mechanism.
— By-laws, such as a government decree, will be enough. We were guided by this at the time when changes were made to the legislation of this situation in 2020," he said in an interview with Izvestia.
Opinions of market participants
The biggest players who suffer the most in this situation are those who value their reputation and their customers, said Vladimir Kaganer. At the same time, small companies or aggregators can absolve themselves of some responsibility if their initial obligations to book a hotel and purchase tickets before the flight was delayed or canceled were fulfilled, he believes.
"It would be fair if, with additional support from the fund, we could level the playing field a bit," the Izvestia source believes.
Olga Novikova, CEO of Maldives Bonus, told the newspaper that she did not face any costs in the event of airport closures, since she only works with scheduled airlines — the carriers assumed responsibility for rescheduling flights and accommodating tourists.
— So far, everything that we have encountered is being solved directly with airlines and hotels. Even if we decided at some point with money, we still compensated for it," the source said.
In her opinion, regular travel insurance is a fairly effective tool.
However, the active participation of insurers will mean an increase in the cost of insurance, which means an increase in the cost of the tour, says Vitaly Holgin. This will be all the more noticeable against the background of the already existing increase in prices for tourist products, he noted.
— Tours are expensive as it is. Putting some more risks in them is critical from the point of view of their accessibility," the Izvestia interlocutor argues.
Some insurers offer travel insurance, but whether or not to introduce such a product is a business decision that is made by each specific company, recalls Yulia Alcheeva, director of the branch of the insurance company Euroins.
This summer, the company launched a travel insurance program, including for passengers on charter flights. The payments are beneficial — in case of flight delay or cancellation, the passenger receives a fixed amount of 5,000 rubles, and when traveling with a family, a separate payment for each family member.
— Massive flight delays are a cumulative story, when many tourists stay at the airport at the same time or get to an alternate airfield. Therefore, it is important for insurers to calculate all the risks before introducing such a product," she explained.
She, like Alexander Osaulenko, compares the growing interest in such a service to the situation during the Covid years, when there was a surge of consumer interest in the previously existing travel insurance.
The option is included in the price
The massive use of alternative mechanisms, including travel insurance, is "shifting responsibility onto other people's shoulders," Vitaly Holgin believes.
— It turns out that the only option that is already included in the cost is the use of funds from the Personal Responsibility Fund, — he argues.
It is difficult to accurately assess the losses incurred by tour operators, as the situation is "changing dynamically," said Vladimir Kaganer. However, already now, in his opinion, we are talking about "billions of dollars."
The publication's interlocutors point out that using reserve funds "ahead of schedule" may be more effective than waiting for a particular company to go bankrupt in order to use the fund's funds.
— It is important to remember that as long as the tour operator is alive, the tourist is protected, — Alexander Osaulenko emphasized.
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