11/08/2019 16:49

What happened to ‘Deep tour’?

[IMG=18508-4100] On the 2nd of December BANKO Information service started receiving information about ‘Deep tour’ stopping its activity from several sources. According to one of the messages from the forum www.tourdom.ru, ‘There are only three members of staff in the office, tours are being completely cancelled.’ On the operator’s site in the section ‘Availability’ all dates of planned flights to Hurghada and Sharm-el-Sheikh were marked in red colour: starting from the 3rd of December till the 28th of December there was a message ‘no availability’. A BANKO correspondent immediately went to the central office of ‘Deep tour’ company, situated on Bolshaya Dmitrovka. The situation turned out to be calm – there were no representatives of agencies in the office and there were only members of the staff of the company: at least six people. In another office – next to metro Tulskaya – there also was some activity: according to one member of the staff, on Friday they were giving documents for Saturday flights to Egypt. However there were no couriers of travel agencies in the office. Also none of the offices had a responsible manager who was ready to give official explanations about what is really happening to the company and why there are rumours that the company ceased its activity. A BANKO correspondent was instructed to write a request and send it by e-mail. However, in private discussions it was discovered that the company is indeed limiting its activity and it is closely connected to the circumstances of the deal with ‘Mezhbusinessbank’, announced by ‘Deep tour’s management on the 5th of October. In a special press-conference it was announced about the bank’s participation in the operator’s business, while the concrete form of the participation and the sum of the possible deal should have been defined by the New Year. ‘We are not talking about closing the operating company, it is working but following the bank’s initiative there was a decision to limit the program of flights. For New Year we have good sales and all tourists who booked their trips will be sent on holidays and no cancellations will be made. Flights will be cancelled selectively’, said the source in ‘Deep tour’, who wished to stay anonymous. Boris Mareev, deputy chairman of the board of ‘Mezhbusinessbank’ interviewed by a BANKO correspondent was brief: ‘…the decision to cooperate with ‘Deep tour’ has not yet been made, an audit is still going on. Our relationship did not take any form’. He refused to give more details on the topic referring to another person in charge of the project who was absent. Read more about the development of events in following news.