The agency, Rostourism, outlined its concerns in a letter sent on Thursday to the Bulgarian Ministry of Economy, Energy, and Tourism, and the Russian Foreign Ministry.
The note came after Bulgarian VIP Tours, a Bulgarian tour operator working primarily with Russian tourists, announced it had filed for bankruptcy.
According to Rostourism, a total of 500-1,000 Russian tourists staying at four hotels in Bulgaria could be affected by BVT's bankruptcy, with the hotels already asking the Russians to pay them directly for the rooms that they had already paid the bankrupt tour operator for.
Irina Stegolkova, a spokesperson for Rostourism, said that the Bulgarian hotels made contracts with the tour operator and should demand their money from the firm instead of forcing the tourists to pay a second time for the same service.
Earlier on Thursday, Bulgaria's Deputy Economy Minister Ivo Marinov said the ministry would ensure that Russian tourists accommodated in the country through BVT would be able to complete their holidays free of trouble.
"On Tuesday afternoon, the Ministry of Economy, Energy and Tourism received information about the financial condition of Bulgarian VIP Tours. Steps were taken to make sure that all tourists who are already in Bulgaria or are yet to arrive can spend their holidays normally," Marinov said Thursday morning in an interview for the Bulgarian National Radio.
He explained that Russian tour operators traditionally work with several Bulgarian companies, which means that the tourists could be serviced by other Bulgarian tourist firms.
Marinov said the bankrupt company had been working with some 1,000 tourists, including Russians and citizens of Iran, Kazakhstan and Romania.
The deputy minister vowed that Russian tourists currently on holiday would not experience any difficulties, while tourists from other countries were protected by an EU Directive saying that the tour operator is liable in cases of bankruptcies when the tourists cannot receive the service for which they paid.
VIP Tours informed its Russian partners that it was stopping operations on Wednesday afternoon.
"The management of Bulgarian VIP Tours is very sorry to announce that we are forced to stop business operations. This is a very tough decision both for us and for you. The bankruptcy of one of our main partners, the postponement of new investments, and the atrocious conditions imposed by creditors brought us to this situation in which we are unable to continue our activities," BVT said in a letter.
Irina Turina, press-secretary of the Russian Tourist Industry Union, said Wednesday that the bankruptcy would affect some 400-500 tourists who are now staying in different Bulgarian resorts, causing damages of up to EUR 300,000.
She explained that BVT had not managed to recover from the bankruptcy of Capital Tour, a major Russian tour operator.
Source: http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/russian-tourist-concern-after-bulgaria-bankruptcy
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