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The tour operator «NEWS TRAVEL» has suspended its activities. Information was posted on the company’s internet resource that all trips starting from 17.01.2015, including paid and booked ones, are cancelled, and the dispatch of tourists is suspended…
All trips, including paid and booked ones, are cancelled, and the dispatch of tourists is suspended. The company names a sharp decline in demand and the purchasing power of the population, associated with an unstable exchange rate, as well as the negative political situation in Ukraine, as the main reasons for the situation.
>>>>> Details on this page REFUND OF MONEY «NEWS TRAVEL» <<<<<
Further actions for tourists
«NEWS TRAVEL» assured that tourists currently on holiday abroad are provided with return tickets home.
Regarding booked and paid tours, refunds will be carried out according to the procedure described on the “News Travel” internet portal in the “Agencies” section. Clients need to submit a package of documents, according to the list specified on the site, to the tour operator’s office in Kyiv, which operates on a standard schedule. Please note that documents will not be accepted by e-mail or via courier services. Refunds to clients are made no later than 14 working days from the date of submission of the required documents. Note that the tour operator’s regional offices are not operating.
The company also assures that tourists’ passports will be issued as they are processed at the consulate in the standard manner.
Public reaction
Posting information about the suspension of activities of the tour operator «NEWS TRAVEL» sparked very active discussions on the Internet and many posts in social communities. On one hand are the affected tourists, who do not want to wait for compensation from the tour operator and make their claims directly to travel agents. On the other hand are travel agencies, which advise waiting for compensation from the tour operator. Recall that previously (for example, in cases of failure to fulfill obligations by “Karya Tour”, “Zeta”, “Iltur”) agencies willingly accommodated their clients and compensated travelers who did not fly for the cost of their holidays. However, in the current situation the position of agencies has changed. The reasons are obvious: given the low demand and the sharp drop in early bookings, it will be extremely difficult (or even impossible) for travel agents to cover their own losses. The head of one agency explained that they alone have tour products booked for a total of more than 60 thousand hryvnias. The agent has nowhere to get such funds to return to the affected tourists. Moreover, no one guarantees that the client will be satisfied after the travel agent refunds the money.
Legal assessment
According to the Law “On Tourism” a travel agent performs an intermediary function between the tour operator and the tourist. Its task is to inform about the characteristics of the purchased tourist product and to forward the order and payment for the product to the tour operator within the established period. In this case the agencies fulfilled their obligations, so financial claims should be addressed directly to the tour operator who suspended the dispatch of tourists.
Of course, citizens are not deprived of the right to go to court with claims against their agent. In this case the tour operator will be involved in the process as a co-defendant.
Of course, there is a risk that the refund procedure for the tour operator’s unfulfilled obligations will be prolonged for a very long time. This is due to the fact that the insurance company that provided the tour operator’s financial liability guarantee will join the payments only after the tour operator is declared bankrupt in court. And such court proceedings, as is known, can last for years.
Situation of tourists abroad
According to preliminary estimates by specialists, at least 3,500 Ukrainian tourists who used the services of «NEWS TRAVEL» are currently abroad. It is known that in hotels in Thailand people have already been asked to pay for their accommodation themselves, although there has been no talk of eviction so far. In the Dominican Republic, Andorra and the United Arab Emirates they promise not to use Ukrainian tourists to exert pressure on the insolvent tour operator.