On November 15, in St. Petersburg, as part of the business program of the VIII St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People's Republic of China and the Federal Agency on tourism of the Russian Federation on strengthening cooperation in the sphere of coordination of activities in tourism. The signing parties were the head of Rostourism Zarina Doguzova and the Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism of the PRC Mr. Zhang Xu.
"The vector of improving the quality and safety of tourist services in the two countries was strengthened after the negotiations between the head of Rostourism Zarina Doguzova and the Minister of Culture and Tourism of the PRC Luo Shugan, which took place in Moscow this spring. Therefore, the main goal of the Memorandum was to protect the legitimate rights and interests of tourists and tourist organizations of the two countries. To achieve this, Rostourism and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the PRC agreed to create a joint working group," the press service of the department reported.
The working group will include representatives of authorized government bodies and tourism associations of the two countries, who will resolve issues related to the coordination of actions in tourism and regulation of the tourism market.
"China is a priority tourist market for us. Guests from China already occupy first place in visits to Russia from foreign countries, so the issues of improving the quality of tourist services are the most pressing for our countries. The creation of a joint working group will allow Rostourism, in close contact with Chinese colleagues, to address issues that will take tourist exchanges between Russia and China to a qualitatively new level," said Zarina Doguzova, head of Rostourism, after the signing.
The main areas of activity of the working group will be:
- collection and exchange of information on the current state of the national tourism services market, existing problems and ways to solve them;
- strengthening cooperation in the area of regulating the tourism market and implementing joint actions in the event of violation of the legitimate rights and interests of tourists of the two countries;
- bringing together the requirements for quality standards of provided tourist services and the basic cost of typical tourist products;
- exercising control independently and jointly with state authorized bodies over compliance by tourism organizations with national legislation in the field of tourism, the provision of tourism services and their compliance with quality standards;
- exchange of materials on cases concerning violations of the law by tourist organizations and individuals;
- conducting coordinated actions to prevent the provision of tourist services to consumers at reduced, dumping prices, the real cost of which is compensated by forcing tourists to make purchases not included in the travel program, selling goods and souvenirs, tickets to theaters and museums at inflated prices, charging fees for visiting tourist attractions and sights;
- cooperation in the field of training guides and tour group leaders.
Source: trn-news.ru