‘We have been getting a lot of complaints about unreliable travel agents. 90% of claims laid against travel agencies are related to service agreement violations or mistakes in these agreements. I feel that once the accreditation procedure becomes obligatory, the number of complaints will go down, while the certificate will prove an agent’s dependability,’ head of Sverdlovsk Region’s division of Rospotrebnadzor (the state consumer rights watchdog) Consumer Rights Department Natalya Afanasieva announced in the course of a press conference.

‘To go through with the accreditation, one has to undergo a certification procedure voluntarily, the travel agencies’ personnel need to have the necessary qualifications, and the director needs the suitable kind of education and at least a three years’ work experience. Moreover, a company has to provide the certificating authorities with a set of certain documents, including a sample service agreement. All this will prevent the unscrupulous travel agents from getting accredited’ Vice President of Ural Tourism Association Natalya Larionova.