Tour agency "Labyrinth": address, rating, reviews

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Tour agency "Labyrinth" started its activity in 1995. At that time, traveling abroad for a tourist from our country was a rarity. Later, the company continued to expand the territory of its services to the population and improve customer service. In 2014, the tour operator began to have serious problems that led the company to a financial impasse. Huge queues of dissatisfied people have accumulated at the address of the travel agency "Labyrinth". Previously, the office was located in Moscow, on the street. Tsandera, d. 7, building 2A (metro station "VDNKh").

Activities

Among the states where the travel agency "Labyrinth" sent clients, one could find common holiday destinations: Turkey and Egypt. There were suggestions for lovers of the unknown: Nepal, Mauritius, Jamaica. Offers of the travel agency "Labyrinth" for last-minute tours were the most profitable in the tourist market.

Company service

The travel agency "Labyrinth" (according to customer reviews) offered an innovative formonline search and ordering tours on the site with the possibility of consultation with a company employee. The operator published a newspaper that told about the news of the season for vacationing citizens and contained useful information for travelers. The company constantly came up with bonus programs and gave pleasant discounts, thereby increasing the loy alty of its customers.

Financial disaster

The travel agency "Labyrinth" announced the suspension of activities from August 2, 2014, that is, in the midst of the summer holidays of the citizens of our country. According to preliminary information, at that moment there were 25,000 Russian tourists abroad who had to somehow return to Russia. It was the largest catastrophic disaster in the history of the tourism industry in our country. The high rating of the travel agency "Labyrinth" did not save her from unreliable partners, owners and financial miscalculations.

Causes of the disaster

The financial disaster was due to the following reasons:

1. A sharp decline in the purchasing power of the population due to the growth of the exchange rate.
2. Unstable political and economic situation in the country.
3. Prohibition of travel abroad for military personnel and employees of internal services, which is advisory in nature.
4. Financial conflict with the Orenburg Airlines, which suspended flights that were not paid for by the Ideal-tour travel operator. According to payment orders, the tourist operator had to, in two years,starting from 2013 and ending in 2014, to pay almost three billion rubles for the services rendered for the transportation of tourists to the main carrier, Orenburg Airlines, and in fact did not pay even two billion rubles.

Harbingers of disaster

Labyrinth Travel Company was not the first company in the travel market to face financial problems in the 2014 summer season.

By the middle of summer 2014, the wave of bankruptcies reached the organized segment and large players. On July 16, the Neva tour operator, which has been operating on the market since 1999, announced the suspension of activities. The operator "Neva" announced the impossibility of fulfilling its financial obligations. At that time, several thousand clients of the company remained abroad, who needed to return to Russia.

Executives at the Neva operator explained that over the past six months, sales of tourist packages have fallen by twenty-five percent due to the recommended restrictions on travel abroad of the country by government employees and law enforcement officers and due to a general decline in economic development states. The first factor had a very strong impact on the company, since (according to analytical estimates) more than half of the tour operator's turnover was contracts for the rest of law enforcement officers.

The next potential bankrupt was the operator Roza Vetrov and the St. Petersburg operator Expo Tour.

Conclusions of the investigation

Investigators in the case offinancial scam in a large Russian travel agency "Labyrinth" suspected the guilt of business owners. It was assumed that client funds could be withdrawn to Greece. Russian investigators sent an official request to the Greek law enforcement agencies for the provision of management reporting documents for Le Grand Travel and Elements SA. The suspected companies belonged to a business partner of the owners of the Labyrinth travel agency. Law enforcement officers assumed that the money missing from the tourists could be on the settlement accounts of the designated companies. In total, one billion rubles was withdrawn from the Labyrinth travel agency. Representatives of Le Grand Travel claimed that the funds of the "Labyrinth" came solely to pay for hotel stays.

Prime Suspects

The main defendants in the criminal case in August 2014 were the co-owners of the travel agency "Labyrinth" Mikhail Shamanov and Sergey Azarskov. Other co-owners of the company, Tatyana Zotova and Svetlana Baranovskaya, could also be involved in financial scams.

client funds of the company "Labyrinth".

According to law enforcement officials, MikhailShamanov and Sergey Azarskov knew about the company's growing debts to leading partners, including air transportation, but continued to sell travel packages, misleading the company's customers about the true financial position of the company. The owners collected more than one hundred million rubles from tourists, but they did not intend to fulfill their obligations to them. As a result of the suspension of the operator's activities, several tens of thousands of Russian tourists suffered.

Punishment for crime

Mikhail Shamanov and Sergey Azarskov, owners of the tour operator "Labyrinth", were put on the international wanted list and arrested in absentia. Mikhail Shamanov, according to operational data, is now in the UK, in London. Sergey Azarskov was detained at the border of Serbia and Montenegro and, at the request of the law enforcement agencies of our country, was taken to Russia.

Tourist pyramids

A major round of the financial crisis in the travel services market has come to its logical conclusion. The crisis cost the tourism industry dearly: many large tour operators stopped their work, and their owners became defendants in major criminal cases.

In total, about ten administrative and criminal cases about pyramid schemes in the tourism business are currently being investigated in our country. The owners of the companies Neva, Roza Vetrov, Expo Tour, Ideal Tour, Labyrinth, Wind of Wanderings and others are suspected of financial fraud. Most Ownersand employees of bankrupt firms fled, so they are on the federal and international wanted list.

Results

The outgoing year was marked by the revival of the tourist services market. The number of tourist trips of our citizens abroad has grown. The longest and largest financial crisis in the history of the domestic tourism industry is coming to an end. Not all companies survived. Now 625 tour operators are officially registered.

The most popular holiday destinations in demand by travel companies are as follows.

Turkey is the most favorite holiday destination for citizens of our country. Turkey likes its service for every taste and budget. Everyone appreciates high-quality service: youth companies, couples, lovers of loneliness. Huge territories of hotels and hotels, quality food, free beaches with sunbeds and sun loungers, clear blue sea, a lot of sightseeing tours (water parks, historical sites, protected areas) - all this calls tourists here again and again. Traveling to beautiful Istanbul in spring is the new fashion trend in the tourism industry.

Spain is in the top five for Coral Travel. Picturesque beaches with white and black sand (Tenerife), clear blue sea, rich seafood cuisine, perfect service and a huge number of sightseeing tours - this attracts tourists here. One trip to Barcelona can give so many emotions that the tourist will definitely want to come back here again.

China is the new trendy holiday destination. Everything is beautiful in China: ancient architecture, nature, service at the highest level.

Greece is the top destination for summer bookings for many operators. Mild climate, clear sea, cozy atmosphere of hotels, safety on excursions - all this attracts tourists, especially those traveling with small children. The leaders in demand are Rhodes and the beloved island of Crete.

Cyprus - an evergreen and sunny country is in second place in booking tours from TUI Russia. The resort of Ayia Napa, which is loved by both couples and youth companies, is in particular demand.

The family resort Sunny Beach is in good demand in Bulgaria. Clear sea, beach, comfortable hotels and quality service.

In Montenegro, tourists like to relax in Budva. And in Italy, in this cheerful country, beach destinations are the most popular among our citizens in summer.