OREANDA-NEWS. December 30, 2009. The Expert Council of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia) on Developing Competition in Tourist Industry discussed the issues related to enforcement of the Federal Law "On Introducing Amendments to Article 17.2 of the Federal Law "On the Basic Principles of Tourist Activities in the Russian Federation".

Representatives of the Russian Ministry of Sport and Tourism, the Federal Tourism Agency (Rostourizm), the Federal Service for Insurance Control (Rosstrakhnadzor), the National Insurers Union, the Russian Union of the Tourist Industry, the Association of Russian Tour Operators, and representatives of business community attended the meeting of the Expert Council.

During the discussion, attendees paid special attention to the absence of the grounds for insurance events under the agreements for civil liability of tour operators involved in inbound tourism. At the same time, Article 17-2 sets the financial security requirement of 10 million Rubes for the tour operators involved in inbound tourism.

According to FAS Russia, this requirement is unjustified as the risks are carried by foreign tour companies that provided tourist services. Members of the Expert Council were given summary information from twenty insurance companies about the agreements for civil liability insurance of tour operators, in particular, involved in inbound tourism, for 2008 and January-September 2009.

According to the obtained information, in the period in question the insurance companies did not pay premiums for insurance events related to inbound tourism.

Members of the Expert Council emphasized the need to eliminate unnecessary pressure upon tour companies operating in inbound tourism, especially because it may concern the companies promoting specialized tours in the market of tourist services: ecotourism, event and adventure tours, hunting and fishing. For most Russian regions such types of tours are among few available sources of revenue.

Also members of the Expert Council talked about the need to research how tour products are sold by Russian tour operators (tour agents) to feign tourists via the Internet.

Summing up the meeting, the Expert Council made a decision to continue the work in order to clarify and summarize the data about the agreements for civil liability insurance of tour operators, and study foreign experience in this field and then discuss the findings at a meeting with participation of representatives of the authorities and business community.