TEAM HERALD

teamherald@herald-goa.com

PANJIM: The Russian Consulate has launched a troubleshooting exercise, by sending its diplomat to Goa to assess the situation in which about 400 clients of tour operator Lanta Tur Voyage are stranded at Dabolim.

Russian diplomat Roman Vorobiev is already in Goa to take stock of the situation and is expected to meet the troubled passengers.

About 504 Russian tourists could not fly out of Goa last Saturday because of the tour operator’s bankruptcy. However, 104 tourists managed to fly back to Moscow at their own expense the following day.

Leading tour operators have stepped forward to make alternate arrangements for the remaining stranded passengers while few others, for now, have managed their own stay.

Sources said the Consulate is trying to get more accurate information on the number of tourists vacationing in Goa on vouchers issued by the bankrupt tour operator.

Russia’s largest tour operator Lanta Tur had announced stoppage of operations after it suffered a massive financial collapse leaving about 504 Russians passengers stranded at Dabolim airport Saturday.

The travel agency which sold foreign tours to about 100,000 Russians last year said on its website it halted operations because of lack of funds to pay for the services it had booked.

About 3,000 people can be affected by the suspension of Lanta Tur Voyage’s operations. Rostourism has set up a crisis hotline — 7 /495/ 607-71-17 – where Lanta Tur Voyage customers can get consultation. Lanta customers started calling shortly thereafter. “One of the calls came from Goa; tourists asked what they should do because their return tickets had not been paid for.”

The troubled tour operator Lanta Tur Voyage has so far not informed its insurer Ingosstrakh of its financial problems. It appears that Ingosstrakh would perform all of its obligations if it gets a request from the tour operator.