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Posted by: Daniela Socolovschi

News / Economic

19 May 2020 / 15:00

Travel agencies are among the companies most affected by the pandemic

Travel agencies are the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The lack of reservations, but also the pressure put by the clients who have canceled their holidays and ask for a refund are among the problems that harm this field the most. For some agencies, this period has reduced revenue by almost half, and for others it could even mean bankruptcy. The solution would be to extend the repayment term of the clients' money, following the termination of the contracts, Moldova 1 reports.

The Rotaru family has been running a travel company for 11 years. The critical situation in which the small family business has reached is unprecedented. Several customers have canceled their holidays abroad, and others have rescheduled them for the next summer season. Even so, the economic losses are significant.

"We never thought we could get here. Unprecedented. We do not know what it will be, when it will allow the reopening of borders. We try to come up with some offers, but we can't prepare them either, because we don't know the situation that will be in a week, everything comes as a surprise," said Irina Rotaru, representative of a travel agency.

The operators claim that they cannot return the payments to the customers because they have already been transferred to the service providers from the countries where the tourists were to be accommodated. They say extending the repayment period will give them a chance to get out of the crisis.

"We want to return the tourists' money, because they are our customers, but we don't have them. It is a respite for us to start activating, to be able to have the flow of tourists, the flow of sales, so that we can return the money to those who canceled their reservations," stated Irina Rotaru.

COVID -19 turned upside down the plans of several Moldovans, who, despite the pandemic crisis, would not hesitate to go on a getaway.

The safety conditions for tourists and the economic pressure on companies in the field are also analyzed at the level of the European Union.

"On May 13, the European Commission came up with some recommendations on how we could resume tourism, what are the rules for accommodation of tourists in the hotel, related to air transport, land transport. We will examine them and see what we can take for our regulations in the Republic of Moldova and we will come with an additional initiative," said Ana Colţa, president of the National Association of Tourism Economic Agents of Moldova (ANAT).

In the case of canceled holidays, the European Commission recommends travel agencies to give customers vouchers for reprogramming within 12 months. At the same time, the institution encourages governments to help companies that have gone bankrupt.

TRM.MD recalls that the Government of the Republic of Moldova approved yesterday a draft law proposing the establishment of a moratorium of 540 days for the return by travel agencies of the amounts paid by tourists in advance for canceled holidays.

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