Romanian ministry: Tourists will not lose money paid on 2018 holidays

Romanian tourists don’t risk losing the money they have paid for the holidays in 2018, according to representatives of the Tourism Ministry. Authorities want to set up a guarantee fund for tourism packages, which the Finance Ministry will manage. The fund will reimburse customers all the amounts paid for acquiring tourism packages if their travel agency goes bankrupt. “The guarantee fund was designed precisely to remove the dangers on the tourism market, so that there are no more bankruptcies that leave Romanians without their paid holidays ", tourism minister Mircea Titus Dobre said. The fund will also cover the expenses of repatriating the tourists who are stranded in foreign countries and can’t return home because they can’t use the acquired package. In October, dozens of Romanian tourists who purchased holidays through local travel agency Omnia Turism remained blocked in foreign countries after the suicide of the agency’s owner George Negru led to an extreme situation. Over 200 others have lost the money paid for holidays they were planning to take at the end of this year. Tourism minister Mircea Titus Dobre then said that a total of 88 Romanian travel agencies have lost their licenses this year. Over 2,000 licensed travel agencies are currently operating in Romania. Hundreds of clients lose paid holidays as Romanian travel agency owner commits suicide editor@romania-insider.com