The tour operator "Versa" suspended activities. How it was?

Tourist business, like any other, is subject to a lot of risks, and companies are often closed because of the loss. But when a small travel agency ceases to work, the consequences are not so impressive as when a major tour operator announces its insolvency. That is why, when the tour agency "Versa" suspended its activities, this caused serious unrest in the market.

About company

LLC "Versa" started working in 1999. She was one of the largest tour operators in St. Petersburg and in the north-western part of Russia. The tour operator offered the opportunity to relax anywhere in the world. Depending on the capabilities of customers, he offered budget European bus tours or group excursions. And also employees could help organize a real dream vacation for discerning customers, for whom the price did not matter.

Before the tour operator "Versa" suspended activity, it not only provided outbound tourism services of varying complexity for ordinary tourists, but also offered various programs for corporate tourism companies. In addition, the company engaged in domestic tourism and acted as host to the organization of official delegations' visits to the cultural capital.

year 2014

The year 2013 was almost record for outbound tourism. And few people expected that 2014 will become a nightmare for many tourist companies and citizens who have already purchased permits. Sudden crisis and a sharp rise in price of the currency did their job, as a result, many small agencies and several large players were forced to leave the market.

Not only the tour operator "Versa" suspended activities, and as a result, the vacation was spoiled by more than 130 thousand people. More lucky for those who could fly away and learned about the problems at the end of the vacation. Although the difficulty of paying for the hotel and waiting for information on how and when you can return to your homeland, it's hard to call luck. Some have learned that they are not going anywhere, being at home and looking forward to the long-awaited trip. And to return the cost of the tour was possible, but the procedure required time, money was not returned immediately and not always in full. Therefore, the holiday in any case was spoiled.

Care of Versa

The St. Petersburg tour operator "Versa" suspended work on September 15, 2014, leaving about 9 thousand vacationers abroad and selling for the next few months another 6 thousand people. According to the company, she decided to close only outbound tourism, but was ready to work to receive guests, as well as develop an internal direction. "Versa" supplemented the list of numerous large companies from St. Petersburg, who announced their insolvency in 2014. Given that financial guarantees for a total of 210 million rubles were provided by three insurance companies, the management of the firm was not worried about the fate of the injured tourists.

Conflict with Turpomost

After the tour operator "Versa" suspended activities, he announced his actual inability to engage in the export of their own tourists from their places of rest. The company turned to Turpomosti to return the people back at the expense of their funds. The "Tourmobility" fund is created at the expense of the funds made by market participants engaged in outbound tourism. Thus, with the insolvency of one of the companies, the financial burden rests on others. The position of "Versia" outraged many, as the company closed only outbound tourism, leaving the domestic to generate revenue. At the same time, it was not going to bear responsibility to its clients and decided to shift it to others. The management of the company was given a condition for the immediate termination of all activities. To continue working, the company had to deal with the problems of returning its customers from other countries on its own. Then the tour operator "Versa" announced a complete suspension of activities. The company directed its remaining finances for export of people, the shortcomings were compensated by "Tourist assistance". According to the estimates of the fund, real help was needed by 3 thousand tourists who did not receive return tickets.

As many analysts predicted, the St. Petersburg company was the last among those who left the tourism business in 2014. Given the fact that the tour operator "Versa" suspended its activities at the end of the season, there was no need to wait for new shocks in this market.