HCMC – As of on Tuesday afternoon, 125 Russian tourists had left for their country after being stranded in Binh Thuan Province’s hotels and resorts because their tour operator had not paid service suppliers.
The remaining 184 will have departed by February 9, said Binh Thuan’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism. The total number of Russian tourists stranded in Binh Thuan was verified at 309 people, against the earlier estimated figure of 400-500.
Lanta-Viet, as the tour operator for these tourists, is adversely impacted after its Russian partner Lanta-Tur Voyage announced to halt operation. The stranded tourists stay in 16 hotels and resorts like Lang Tre, Seahorse, Hoang Ngoc, Allezeboo, and Novotel.
Speaking to the Daily, Director Ngo Minh Chinh of Binh Thuan’s culture-sports-tourism department said the province had requested the resorts to provide the best conditions for tourists. He added Lanta Viet’s director Kontantin would return to Binh Thuan on Wednesday to work with management agencies and service suppliers on solving the existing problems.
The department said Lanta-Tur Voyage had brought a large number of Russian visitors to Binh Thuan in the last few years. Lanta-Viet Travel Company, a joint venture of Lanta-Tur Voyage and the local Tan Duong Tourist and Trade Company, takes responsibility of the tourists when they arrive in Vietnam.
However, following the information about Lanta-Tur Voyage’s bankruptcy, Lanta-Viet’s office in Phan Thiet was suddenly closed, together with the flight of the firm’s tour guides, service staff and director.
Under the tour schedules, most Russian tourists will depart on the flights of Transaero, Sibiri, Vietnam Airlines and Aeroflot no later than February 8.
The tourists could not return to their country since they were left with no money to pay hotel and transport services, and did not have return tickets because their tour operator had not paid the air carriers.
The preliminary statistics of the Binh Thuan Tourism Association showed that Lanta Viet still owed some VND6 billion to tourism service suppliers in Binh Thuan.
In response to this incident, Russian Consulate General Klimov Vladimir Borisovich went to Binh Thuan this Monday to join hands with the provincial authority to address the situation.
Russia’s ITAR TASS News Agency on Tuesday quoted the Russian Investigative Committee (SK) spokesman Vladimir Markin as saying that SK would file a criminal lawsuit against Lanta-Tour Voyage for making some 3,500 Russians stranded overseas and impacting 8,000 other tourists.
Under Russia’s criminal code, Lanta-Tour Voyage is accused of large-scale and organized fraud. The preliminary investigation results of Russian police showed that the Russian travel firm had gone against the laws.
From late 2011 to January 28, 2012, Lanta-Tour Voyage signed multiple contracts to provide tourism services, including airfare, transport, accommodation and sightseeing, Markin said. Though having received payments from customers, the company did not realize their commitments and announced bankruptcy on January 27.
SK will clarify the responsibilities of Lanta-Tour Voyage and related government officials, as well as take measures to compensate tourists for physical and mental damages.
