MINSK, 17 January (BelTA) – We are planning to submit the draft revised law on tourism for the autumn session of the Belarusian parliament, Vitaly Gritsevich, deputy director of the tourism department, head of planning and tourist activities at the Sport and Tourism Ministry, told reporters, BelTA has learned.
"The law on tourism will be revised. This is a comprehensive document which must be prepared this year. We are going to submit the draft law for the autumn session. But I think that after that it will be revised and edited more than once,” Vitaly Gritsevich said.
The Sport and Tourism Ministry has already held a series of discussions and roundtables to discuss the proposed amendments. "I can say that we had heated debates on key points: how to distribute the duties and responsibilities of tour operators and travel agents, how tourists should be protected (for example, insurance or the mandatory financial cushion for payments). The solution of these issues and the preparation of the bill will not be very easy," Vitaly Gritsevich says.
The need to amend the law on tourism came in the wake of the situation with the Russian tour operator Natalie Tours. As it was reported, about 400 tours of Natalie Tours were sold in Belarus and subsequently canceled.
