Associations: 4,000 tourism workers to LOSE THEIR JOBS

The associations of tourist agencies of Serbia, UTAS and ANTAS, warned that around 4,000 tourist workers will lose their jobs today, appealing once again for an urgent solution to the problem of blockade, in order to avoid agencies going bankrupt and leaving passengers without alternative travel options.

In their statement, UTAS and ANTAS stated that all associations of tourist agencies and guides in Serbia asked the new Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications, Tatjana Matic, for an urgent meeting, so they can point out the problems in order to find an acceptable solution for continuation of business activities.

UTAS and ANTAS have again called on insurance companies to announce whether they will pay damages to passengers whose alternative travel options would not be realized, because majority of tourist agencies cannot continue to work in current conditions.

As these associations pointed out in the statement, „insolvency policies, which are a legal condition for organizing travels, are not even offered to most agencies, thus they are practically still unavailable“, and in addition, „prices are unrealistically high because agencies will certainly not achieve a significant turnover anytime soon „.

Agencies „are doing everything they can to survive in the market, thus enabling alternative travels,“ the statement said, adding that most agencies had to lay off a good portion of workers or would do so soon, but all cutbacks are insufficient if legal continuation of work and sale of travel packages is not enabled.

Izvor: Beta

Foto: BIZLife