Bulgaria's Tourism Ministry Foresees Better Protection for Holiday Users

Bulgaria's Tourism Ministry prepares legislative amendments, which will offer better protection to users in cases of unfulfillment of paid organised excursions or bankruptcy of tour operators.

These measures are foreseen after the latest in a series of tour operator bankruptcies, which left 300 people without a holiday.

The proposed amendments will be discussed at a meeting with the organisations in the tourism sector on Monday, daily Sega reports.

A letter was sent to the Financial Supervision Commission in order to research the opportunities for improving the terms of tour operator insurance, the mechanisms of its application in such cases and the more effective control in the sector.

A meeting with the Association of Bulgarian Insurers is also forthcoming.

The tourist agent Arrivals Idi sent a notification to its partners on April 29, informing them of inability to fulfill its activity and the start of an insolvency procedure.

Contact was immediately established with the Commission for Consumer Protection and the Tourism Ministry sent experts on the spot.

It was established that nearly 300 tourist packages were sold for the May holidays for trips to Italy and Greece, which will not be fulfilled.

The firm has a tour operator liability insurance, which is valid until 8 July 2015 with liability limit of BGN 900 000.

The ministry will impose a fine on the tour operator as the firm did not inform it of the start of the insolvency procedure, as required by the Tourism Act.