The director of YUTA, Aleksandar Senicic, said today that they hold meetings with insurance companies every day and that at this moment, the only rational solution is to extend the existing policies to travel agencies for three months until the end of the year.
As of October 1, insurance companies refused to insure tourist arrangements, explaining that there was a high risk, among other things due to the pandemic, due to which travel agencies could not obtain a license, and the Government announced that the problem would be solved.
Senicic said that Minister Rasim Ljajic received promises from some insurance companies that they were ready to enter this business – however, that is still ongoing.
“As a representative association, we hold meetings with insurance companies every day. At this moment, the only rational solution is to extend the existing policies for three months until the end of the year, and to find a longer-term solution when the Government is formed,” Senicic told RTS, reports Tanjug.
Paying flat rates at this time when there is no work and when agencies do not know how to plan their business, a large number of people have lost their jobs, the interest of passengers in travel has dropped – is something that, according to Senicic, agencies cannot fulfill.
Pandam with these policies should be a bank guarantee, Senicic explains, adding that the state is dealing with providing a legal entity that will be the holder – the holder of the guarantee, but the amounts are unacceptable for travel agencies, none of them can accept such a high amount.
This is not just a question of licenses but also of solidarity, because tourism workers are affected.
“We are talking about 5,000 people, there were about 10,000 of them at the beginning of the crisis, the obligation to keep workers has expired, those who were hired or kept in jobs due to the state’s first aid given to the economy and a large number of people lose their jobs these days,” Said Senicic.
According to him, there is no sectoral aid, new aid measures are arriving in the area, and there is no first aid in Serbia.
“By the end of the year, we expect the other part of those 35 percent of people who work in the tourism sector to lose their jobs if there is no sectoral assistance,” said Senicic. Among them are tourist guides, some of whom work in agencies, and some as individuals.
He believes that guides who worked under employment contracts and were registered should be provided with one-time assistance.
He hopes that some final solutions will be found during the next week, Politika reports.
