The president of the National Association of Tourist Organizations of Serbia (YUTA), Aleksandar Senicic, said that three insurance companies offered travel insurance policies for only a dozen travel agencies, but that there was no confirmation that they accepted them.
“Insurance companies Dunav, Triglav and Globos offered insurance policies for a dozen major travel agencies, which would cost from 12,000 to 19,000 euros a year,” Senicic said.
He added that those travel agencies did not immediately accept the offer and that it is irrational to accept it even if they can pay that amount, when it is uncertain whether tourist trips will be possible next year.
“We are negotiating for a month, and if we do not reach an agreement in three or four days, we will announce that the negotiations are over,” Senicic said.
The best solution, according to him, is that the amount of the premium is calculated according to the turnover, and not a lump sum as before.
During the negotiations with the insurance companies, the travel agencies demanded that they extend the insurance policies for three months, until the end of the year, and that in the meantime a more permanent solution be sought.
Insurance premiums for travel agencies expired on October 1, and since then the agencies have been blocked because they do not have a license to work, for which travel insurance is a precondition.
“When there is no turnover, ie travel, there is no risk for insurance companies, so the premium should not be paid as a lump sum, but should depend on the turnover,” said Senicic.
The agencies expect, as he said, to work with the new Minister of Trade on changing the Rulebook on travel guarantees, because in these conditions, the amounts for guarantees are too high.
The Rulebook on the type, amount and conditions of travel insurance guarantees, which was recently adopted at the proposal of the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications, envisages four categories of bank guarantees.
When the insurance companies announced that, due to the high risk due to the coronavirus pandemic, they would withdraw from the business of travel insurance, the state reminded that guarantees could also be issued by banks.
The rulebook stipulates that the value of the bank guarantee, depending on the size of the agency, is from 200,000 euros to 400,000 euros.
Last week, tourist workers submitted requests to the Government of Serbia, asking for a solution to the policy problem, non-refundable aid of 8 to 40 thousand euros, depending on the size of the agency, deferral and tax write-off.
The total value of unrealized trips is around 85 million euros, and state aid, if all requests were taken into account, would amount to around 15 million euros, tourist workers claim.
“So far, 120,000 trips for 300,000 passengers have been canceled,” Senicic said, N1 reports.
