Approximately BGN 60 million are still to be returned by tour operators to their clients, who have prepaid for trips, subsequently canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, Lyubomir Nikolov told „Monitor“. According to the specialist, a member of the Board of the Association of Bulgarian Tour Operators and Travel Agents, the amount was a hundred million more in the period June-July in the past 2020.
Although the amount of accrued liabilities is significant, support to the sector is significantly delayed. So far, only one part of the planned BGN 51 million has been paid to only 1/3 of the tour operators. According to the branch „as targeted aid we received 1% of turnover, and in some companies it drops to 0.01%.“
According to the responsible department, by the beginning of this month, 579 applications for a little over BGN 31,611 million had been submitted. The money transfers have been prepared for 86 companies with proper documents by the evaluation commission, which approved the financial aid.
„Tour operators are doing everything possible to recover at least part of the funds of their customers, but the money remains blocked in contractors abroad.„, said Lyubomir Nikolov.
In order to ensure greater safety for travelers, most agencies have increased their insurance limit for the mandatory tourist insurance „Responsibility of the tour operator“. Until recently, it was built on the basis of turnover from the previous year.
It is not yet possible to say with certainty what percentage of tourists who have suffered from canceled visits to their desired destinations have taken advantage of the compensatory options. Among them was the option to refund the amount, change the date of the trip or a voucher of the same value for another vacation.
