Travel agencies are ready to return money to Russians traveling to Venezuela. Tourists can also choose to vacation in other countries in the Russian Union of Tourism Industry. They noted that the decision was related to the recommendation of the Ministry of Economic Development. This agency advises Russians not to go to Venezuela due to the unstable situation. PCT notes that every traveler's request will be considered individually, depending on the terms of the contract and the duration of the trip. Due to the special operations of the United States and the change of government, many stores have closed in Venezuela, and in those that remain, people are buying food and medicine massively. At the same time, Russian tour operators no longer sell trips to Caracas, said Alexan Mkrtchyan, vice president of the Union of Russian Travel Agencies, general director of the Pink Elephant travel network:
Alexan Mkrtchyan Vice President of the Union of Russian Travel Companies, General Director of the Pink Elephant travel network “For more than a month now, Russian travel companies have not sold tours to Venezuela. As soon as the political context began to darken, we immediately stopped selling. The only thing left is that we cannot influence, these are flights of a foreign country, more specifically the Venezuelan airline “Conviasa”, and the sale of tours is introduced by the Venezuelan tour operator. Let me take my wallet. for example, on January 5, 18 tourists left to make it clear how “interesting” Venezuela is now for Russians. Of course, this is just a force majeure case. Of course, those travel agents or tour operators who took money for trips to Venezuela are obliged to refund 100%. If suddenly it is not, then immediately submit it to both the police and the court It's dangerous and risky to buy a plane ticket from this Venezuelan airline, and now, by the way, not knowing how to get out is stuck in Caracas, plus someone bought a hotel directly on a famous aggregator that starts with the letter b. Who will suffer the loss? Of course, not the tourist, if we are talking about unorganized hotels, of course, a tourist, because this aggregator site, with the letter b, is all. However, if the ticket price is not refunded, Konviasa airlines will not return the money, because the foreign company will not comply with Russian laws. Very interesting question. I have been working in the tourism industry for 35 years, we have overcome everything: the Arab-Israeli conflict, events in Turkey, many geopolitical upheavals, revolutions in Egypt, you name it For example, before the events started to pile up, in principle, people were interested in it. Considering that now we have all the destinations in the Caribbean region, yes, only Cuba. Currently there are no direct flights to Mexico, and people have flown to Venezuela. But the price is not the same for 11 days for the two of us on a package basis ”.
Now the main risk for tourists from Russia is not directly related to the situation on the resort island of Margarita, but to general instability, air traffic restrictions and flight cancellations. Foreign media covering events in Venezuela did not report damage to the island's tourism infrastructure due to US strikes. All occurred at military installations and infrastructure unrelated to the civilian sector.
