Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 29 / Trend I.Isabalayeva /
Azerbaijani tourists traveling abroad through travel agencies will be able to make their stay even more comfortable.
During the stay of tourists overseas travel companies can go bankrupt and not cover the costs, the head of Azerbaijan Tourism Association (AzTA) Nahid Bagirov told Trend on Thursday.
However, the new draft law 'On tourism' proposes solving this problem by dividing the travel agencies to the tour operators and travel agencies. Due to establishment of tour operators the responsibility of travel agencies will increase. In case if the tour operator goes bankrupt, all the problems associated with tourists, will be resolved based on a bank guarantee, all expenses of tourists will be covered.
"If during the travel period of Azerbaijani citizen his travel agency goes bankrupt, he will not remain on the street, as this guarantee will be used to cover the costs," Bagirov said.
He noted that after division of tourist entities to tour operators and travel agencies, the experienced companies, which are famous in the market, can become tour operators.
However, a tour operator can not work directly with tourists. It will be able to sell its services and products only through travel agencies
"A tour operator organizes charter flights and provides packages to other tourist organizations.
Local travel agencies buy these packages and sell them to citizens. To be a tour operator, the entity must meet certain criteria set by the state," the head of AzTA said.
According to him, travel companies in Turkey are divided into A, B and C categories and operate in accordance with them.
According to Bagirov, when it comes to the division of Azerbaijani tourism companies into categories, it would be correct to divide them to tour operators and travel agencies.
Bagirov said that the new draft law 'On Tourism' addresses a number of issues which are very useful for travel agencies. After the project comes into effect, good conditions will be created for tourism companies.
The new law 'On tourism' has already been submitted for public discussion. It was also directed the World Tourism Organization for feedback.