Rules for travel agencies toughen up in Romania

Romania’s National Tourism Agency (ANT) will speed up three draft projects that regulate how local travel agencies operate. The decision comes after the Romanian travel agency Genius Travel recently announced its customers of its insolvency via text message. The company informed them that it was insolvent and the clients who paid for trips couldn’t go on their holidays. The clients can recover their debts only at the debtors’ table. ANT now wants to increase the travel agencies’ insurance policy limit fivefold, reports local Profit.ro. It also plans to open a guarantee fund. The third measure provides the creation of a fund where tourists will pay their bookings. Agencies will not be able to use the money for paying salaries or other expenses, but only for the customers’ holidays. Several hotels have claimed in the last years that travel agencies use booking money not only for paying for the holidays, but also for paying their employees’ salaries and other expenses. editor@romania-insider.com