‘Every one knows these tour operators have Turkish roots, but legally their founders are Russian’
The government of Russia is preparing a list of Turkish tour operators who won't be able to work in Russia. However, the market players do not understand it, even though everyone knows what companies have Turkish roots. But it's impossible to prove it because they might be founded not only by the Russians but also even by citizens of the Netherlands. Moreover, the representatives of the Russian tour operators are afraid: if the Turkish operators leave the market, the Russian operators won't be able to attend out compatriots. But the Turkish party doesn't let the grass grow under its feet and declare that it will fight for its Russian client.
Russian founders and Turkish roots
The list of Turkish companies that will be able to work in Russia is to be announced on 10 December. Maksim Topilin, the Minister of Labour, said about it last Friday and emphasized that the list would be short. And Aleksey Likhachev, the deputy Minister of Economic Development, informed that the list of work and services that will be forbidden in Russia for Turkish companies probably would include transport and tourism services. This decision will be an addition to the list that had been issued earlier.
At first sight, the scheme is very simple: a tour operator that is not on the list cannot work with the Russian clients. But, in reality, everything is more complicated: it is still unknown what companies are Turkish.
'The concept of 'Turkish operators' is quite wide. First of all, we refer to the companies that belong to the citizens of Turkey or Turkish corporations. Only Coral is the obvious example whose holding officially founded Coral Travel in Russia. At the same time, we understand that Pegas Touristik, Coral and Anex Tour will form the triad of the largest Turkish companies. Everyone in the market, in fact, knows these companies have Turkish roots, but their legal founders are Russian,' according to Ramil Miftakhov, the President of the Association of Travel Agencies of the Republic of Tatarstan.
As it can be seen, the operators themselves understand it. In the PR-service of Anex Tour Realnoe Vremya was said that, Anex Tour is a 100% Russian company. This is why these restrictions won't influence the activity of the company'.
If you look at what country a company was registered in, only Coral Travel and Sunmar Tour can be officially meant to be Turkish operators. Their founder is Turkish 'OTİ Holding Anonim Şirketi'. Consequently, other companies' founders are the Russians. Although there is one exception. Anex Tour, according to the data of the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, was founded by the Dutch company – Atlas.V.B. PLC. As for Pegas Touristik, there are 22 companies whose names include the key word of the famous brand. In addition, most of them has Russian founders, while the founder of Pegas Touristic PLC is British Pegas Touristik UK Limited PLC.
Ramil Miftakhov: 'We understand that Pegas Touristik, Coral and Anex Tour will form the triad of the largest Turkish companies. Every one in the market, in fact, knows that these companies have Turkish roots, but their legal founders are Russians'
Is 'Natali Tours' guilty?
It can be supposed that that one of the reasons of this decision concerning the tour operators was a letter of Vladimir Vorobyev, the President of Natali Tours, which was sent out to large agencies. It was said that the companies that have Turkish roots, Coral Travel, Anex Tour and Sunmar Tour, in particular, are running the 'unprecedented dumping campaign'. But the market players doubt whether 'Natali Tours' is such a big player whose opinion would lead to the decision in the corridors of power. What is more, in Sergey Pasechnik's view, practically all large companies that only enter the market initially use the dumping strategy to attract clients. 'Natali Tours did the same as well,' he said.
Another question is whether dumping indicates losses on the grounds that in case of bankruptcy of a Russian company, it is possible to find its founder, but it is much more difficult to find roots of a foreign company.
Tourists might be deprived of their money
Experts are convinced that we can expect both positive and negative effect of the departure of Turkish companies.
'Anyway, it will be a serious repartition of the market on account that the Turkish travel industry penetrated deep into the Russian one, and it cemented leading positions in many beaten tracks,' says Sergey Pasechnik, the head of Companion Joint Venture. In his opinion, the Russian tour operators won't fill up the gap, which is forming after when Turkish players left the market.
Lilia Savelyeva, the head of Inteltour is of the same opinion. 'Even if it is a Turkish tour operator, it does not mean that it flies to Turkey only, it may have flights to Vietnam, Goa and Thailand. It means that there won't be flights if the tour operator leaves the market. And what? Won't people rest?'
But tourists can have more serious problems than just an absence of a wide range of choice. If Turkish companies are closed, they will have a reasonable right not to return the money, according to Leonid Press, the director of Sten company. The absence of Turkish companies can indirectly influence the reduction of development paces of the domestic tourism. The reason is simple: due to the difficult political and economic situation and stir around tourism, potential clients can refuse to travel at all.
It is wrong to say 'if Russian tourists don't come, then so be it'
Meanwhile, the Turkish party is ready to fight for the Russian tourist. As Turkish newspaper Haber7 informs, Mahir Unal, the Minister of Culture and Tourism of Turkey, during his visit to Antalya with the intention of meeting with representatives of the tourism industry, reminded that last year on MITT Moscow Exhibition Turkey opened the largest stand. What is more, he emphasized that Turkey is not going to cancel its participation on the exhibition on 23-26 March 2016 in Moscow.
'We are going to diversify our market, so we will solve a common to Antalya and Turkey problem. It is wrong to say 'if Russian tourists don't come, then so be it'. We cannot say like that. We have a top task: in a year, when this problem will be solved, we would not like to have a wrong perception in the market,' said Mahir Unal to journalists.
'Nature abhors a vacuum'
Notwithstanding threatening statements of the government, Russian tour operator hopes that Turkish companies will be able to find a solution in this uneasy situation. According to Ramil Miftakhov, 'As for Coral Travel, there will be Russians who registers Coral Travel+ and continues working'.
And if no trick works and Turkish operators are to go, the Russian companies will have difficulties in working with the volume in the market that belong to their Turkish colleagues. The reason is simple: if Turkish companies work by means of their own funds, the Russian ones – due to loans and use of working capitals. And expert state after their own unnerving forecast that 'nature abhors a vacuum' and if Turkish agencies leave Russia, tourists will have their holiday abroad in any case.