Approximately 40% of the tourists who programmed vacations are ready to reschedule the vacation or to freeze the money in the account of the travel agency so as to use it later. 60% of the tourists ask to be immediately refunded the money, show data of the National Association of Tourism Legal Agents of Moldova, which said that the operators want to pay the money back to tourists, but need more time to do this. The Association calls on the tourists to be understanding so that they could find the best solution.
Contacted by IPN for a comment, Anna Colța, president of the National Association of Tourism Legal Agents, said that things didn’t move on much during about a month. Several discussions and meetings with representatives of the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure, the Premier and the Head of State were held and several more discussions will be yet held to identify a solution that could be implemented at legislative level. At the moment, the representatives of the tourism industry do not know a clear position of the authorities – what path they will follow and how the problems generated by the pandemic will be solved.
They are considering the possibility of instituting a moratorium for 540 days or of introducing legal provisions that would enable to refund the money during a longer period of time. The travel agencies want to return the money to the people, but cannot do it during the 14-day period stipulated by the Civil Code. The partner destination countries, such as Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey, do not refund the money, but issue a voucher valid for 540 days during which the tourist can reschedule a vacation for a later period.
According to Anna Colța, at international level it was stated that the tourism sector has been the worst hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. “We suffer great losses, but cannot estimate them now. A lot depends on foreign factors and how swiftly we will recover, how things will develop, when the destination countries will allow foreigners’ access? When will flights be resumed? How will the tourists be lodged at hotels in the destination countries? We do not at least speak about losses now as the year was compromised. It will be very hard for us. We hope to return to normality and to start work as soon as possible so as to cope with the challenges, but now we are more concerned about that refund period,” she stated.
Anna Colța noted that a survey was carried out among tourism companies and this involved 29 respondents. The study revealed that about 25,000 tourists made reservations and paid millions of euros. The data are approximate. A part of the tourists already informed that they will terminate the contracts, but the representatives of the tourism industry consider the biggest wave will start after May 15, when the state of emergency is to be lifted.
The Association’s president also said it is good when the tourist is understanding and a suitable solution can be found. There are tourists who threaten with lawsuits and resort to insults. “We call on our tourists not to annul, but to reschedule! We ask them to be understanding. By communication, we find the most suitable solution for reprograming the vacation for a later period,” she stated.
