Today, after a meeting with the head of the Federal Tourism Agency, the management of the Pearl River tour operator held a large press conference

As Rostourism reports today, on Wednesday the head of the department, Oleg Safonov, met with representatives of the Pearl River tour operator.

« The event was organized by Rostourism in connection with the large number of requests received from tourists to the agency, caused by the cancellation of Pearl River flight programs, numerous delays and transfers of flights from various regions of Russia to the island. Hainan (PRC) and back, with the cancellation of tours purchased from legal entities of this tour operator and delays in the return of funds paid for them by tourists,” - the message says.

As Rostourism reminds, a resonant event at the end of November 2018 was the four-day delay of the flight from Hainan Island (Haikou) to Khabarovsk, which tourists from the Pearl River were supposed to return home from vacation.

« Despite the fact that all of them were accommodated in hotels and provided with food at the expense of the tour operator while waiting for departure, shortcomings in the system of information interaction between Pearl River and its clients caused a serious negative effect and anxiety among tourists,” - the press service emphasizes.

The meeting also discussed problems with the implementation of flight programs carried out for the Pearl River by ICAR air carriers ( Pegasus Fly, from Moscow), "Alrosa" (from Far East) and S7 (from Siberia).

« Representatives of Pearl River informed about the agreements reached with the IrAero airline, which, according to them, is ready to carry out the entire volume of air transportation of the tour operator’s tourists in the Chinese direction,”- the message says.

The tour operator, as noted in Rostourism, promises to make all necessary efforts to quickly fulfill its obligations and repay debts to tourists.

“We keep the situation with the Pearl River under control and will do everything necessary measures within the framework of our powers in order for it to normalize. The tour operator himself, of course, must carry out serious “work on mistakes” so that his commercial miscalculations or problems in relationships with counterparties no longer have a negative impact on consumers,”- the press service quotes the head of the department.

At the same time, the tour operator Pearl River held a press conference in Moscow today, at which it outlined an optimistic version of the development of events. "WITH At the beginning of 2018, we sent 45 thousand people on vacation to Hainan. Russian tourists, this is 20% more than a year earlier. By the end of the year, we expect to send 50 thousand people only on our own direct flights,”- Evgeny Kosinkov, commercial director of Pearl River, told reporters.

He noted that daily non-stop flights to Haikou Airport were carried out by IrAero, Pegas Fly and Alrosa airlines from Moscow, St. Petersburg and 15 other Russian cities.

Answering a question about possible delays and cancellations of flights in 2019, Mr. Kosinkov said that the cooperation of the tour operator with IrAero and the intermediary company between Russia and China Aviation Services is designed to eliminate flight disruptions.

« Thanks to the assistance of Aviation Services, we have no problems with slots, all necessary permits have been received, and the schedule for the winter season has been set. “IrAero has received permission to operate all scheduled flights to China and will fly stably,”- he said.

Mr. Kosinkov also emphasized that a trip to Hainan in the new year will cost 25-40 thousand rubles per person, depending on the season.

« Back in the spring, our company set a goal to create an affordable year-round mass beach product. Southeast Asia for Russians after all far direction, even from cities Western Siberia and the Far East, the travel time is at least 6 hours, and for the European part of Russia - at least 9-11. Therefore, it is generally accepted that this vacation is expensive. But we have changed this concept.

We reduced the cost of the product by optimizing the cost of transportation, and optimized the work of receiving tourists in Hainan. This allowed us to reduce the cost of packages by 30-40% depending on the departure city. Now we offer a vacation for 25-30-40 thousand rubles per person, depending on the season. On New Year the cost of tours is, of course, higher, but on average for the year we have reached these figures,”- said the top manager of the company.

Let us recall that earlier this week the operator announced the signing of an agreement with Aviation Service HK Limited, under which the Hong Kong company is included in the Pearl River project as an investor and a participant controlling the activities of the Russian operator. The investment volume will be about $100 million .

And yesterday it became known that Alrosa canceled international flights from the cities of Siberia and the Far East to Sanya, carried out by order of the Pearl River.

I want to tell you my impression of the Pearl River. We flew in early October and encountered problems with check-in. Someone had a problem, either at the Pearl River or at the Chinese side, but the reservation was cancelled. But in principle, we were accommodated in another hotel, also 4 stars, but in a different location. This solution to the problem that arose suited us. Everything else is good. During the flights we were fed and given water. While we were deciding on settlement, we were also given water.

Grade: 4 (good)
11/15/2018 at 13:38, Mikhailov Nikolay

We bought a tour near the Pearl River and flew from Kazan in October. The weather on the island is excellent. all transfers are organized. the hotel suited us. The host guide answered all questions and helped if we didn’t know how to get to a particular place. I enjoyed my vacation, thank you.

Grade: 4 (good)
11/13/2018 at 1:33 pm, Roma Sabov

I want to leave my review about the Pearl River. We had a great time. We were settled in Hotel Park Hyatt Sanya Sunny Bay Resort 5* in Yalong Bay. The hotel is super, I liked everything. Neat large rooms, excellent service. We walked around the bay a lot. We tried a lot of local dishes, it’s a pity we can’t attach photos.
By the way, the hotels offer hearty lunches and dinners!

Grade: 5 (excellent)
11/10/2018 at 15:45, Dima Perenkov

We flew with Pearl River for 15 days. We specifically chose this number of days, since due to the peculiarities of movement on the island at night, 2 days of rest are lost and flying for 7 days is stupid. In two weeks we had a lot of fun, the weather was great! +28+30 degrees, sometimes it rained, but everything dried out quickly.

We had a great time! we are happy with our family))

Grade: 4 (good)
07.11.2018 at 12:08, Ksenia

The Pearl River has once again deceived everyone. To Haikou you need to fly more long term. And what ZHR offers for 7 days is a complete deception. They arbitrarily take away departure days and nothing is returned. Upon arrival, we contacted the tour operator for a refund, they told us to wait for the ZhR to be returned to their account, it’s funny and disgusting, within 24 hours they changed our flight, i.e. tickets and the minimum refund and we have to wait. We need to sue ZhR, we don’t recommend flying through this operator, it’s a complete scam. The whole vacation is ruined and they should be charged for moral damages/

Grade: 1 (very bad)
04.11.2018 at 11:04, Galina

My biggest regret is that I didn’t immediately read the reviews about this “wonderful” tour operator. My story is similar to many described here. In April 2018, we purchased tickets to Hainan Island from Kemerovo, the flight was supposed to be on May 15, but the flights were canceled and no one left. They said that the money would definitely be returned, but it was not known when. After 3 months of promises and “breakfasts,” it became clear that we would not get our money back peacefully. We had to go to court, to which the defendants, of course, did not appear and the decision was made by the judge without their participation. Later, with the court decision, we went to the bank, waited another month and again nothing! They suddenly had no money in their account) a company that continues to fly (by the way, with prices that have risen sufficiently) and deceive has no money in its account! very funny, of course. As a result, don’t be fooled by low prices and don’t be fooled by high prices either. Fly with anything but Pearl River

Grade: 1 (very bad)
10/25/2018 at 15:38, Daria

Good afternoon everyone. We flew to Hainan with the Pearl River from Ufa. We were very worried whether the flight would take place or not, but everything was fine! We flew to Haikou and were taken by bus to the hotel. The only downside was that it took a long time to check into the hotel, but this is more of a complaint against the slow hotel workers. And the Chinese, as you know, are not famous for their speed of work. We walked a lot along the coasts, evening festivities in different establishments did not leave us indifferent. I’ll be home soon, but I would like to stay here not for 8 days, but at least 3 weeks)))

Grade: 4 (good)
10/16/2018 at 12:55, Glory

The tour to Hainan was purchased in Blagoveshchensk from 09/17/18-10/01/18, its duration was stated as 14 days, in fact the departure took place on September 17 at 21.40 local time with Alrosa, the departure was quite late, included in the number of paid days, but the arrival in fact, on September 18 (one day was paid for, but lost), the same thing happens on the way back - they were picked up from the hotel at 23.30 on September 30, the breakfast paid for October 1 was lost, because... the hotel did not provide a lunch box, despite the fact that we warned about early check-out, and thus October 01 also fell outside the stated number of days, because at 09 am on October 1 we were already at home.
I also didn’t like the work of the guides who met and saw off, there was practically zero information from them about the island, they only talked about excursions, five minutes of information, the lights on the bus were turned off and everyone was resting.

Grade: 3 (average)
10/15/2018 at 16:05, Irina

At the end of May, my family and I vacationed in Dadonghai Bay. I liked it very much, the place amazed me with its beauty. This is our second flight abroad and we chose Hainan Island. The tour was taken from the Pearl River and departed from Moscow. Transfer to the hotel, excursions and all that. The only thing is that the hotel let us down a little, but this is not a complaint against ZhR, but against the hotel management.
Next year we want to fly to Hainan again, but to the other side of the island))

Grade: 4 (good)
10/11/2018 at 00:25, Artem

On September 9 we returned from Haikou. The tour was purchased through the Pearl River. We were pleased with everything. There were no hiccups with flights, transfers and hotels. The whole family had a great time relaxing.
The weather was sunny and we did not experience the typhoon. Although many who were on the island during the typhoon said that it just rained for 2 days.
In general, thanks to the Pearl River! We had a great time, we will fly with you again next year!

Grade: 4 (good)
09.28.2018 at 15:40, Oleg

This TO launched sales on the island. Hainan with departure from Novokuznetsk from May 2018, but alas, the flight program was canceled (Alrosa charter), they offered to postpone it to June, or return the DS, on 05/28/2018 a message was received from the maintenance department that no one would fly in June, the DS would be returned !!! But in fact, payments have not yet been made for May applications, now June ones have also been added!!! Tourists demand money from us, then they throw up their hands and say, wait, we’ll return it, but when??? book new tour For others, maintenance is not possible, because There is no return, so there is nothing to pay with!!! Tourists are angry, which they rightly pour out on us - agents, their vacation is ruined, their nerves are ruined, people suffer and our reputation, which we have been building for years, suffers!!!

Grade: 1 (very bad)
05/29/2018 at 10:25, Dorofeev Andrey

The tour to Hainan Island was purchased on December 17, the flight was supposed to take place from Ufa on January 13. The cancellation of the tour was announced on January 12. We wrote for a refund immediately on January 12, as we were told, the application was registered on January 15. There is still no return... You call them for 2 hours, the application is being processed, wait, wait, wait... But there is no return. A decent company does not act like this, Fraudsters!!!

Grade: 1 (very bad)
03/03/2018 at 11:15, Aigul

I am writing a review from the management of a travel agency. We had about 30 booked applications to China from Tyumen. The flights did not take place, the tour operator reported that a refund or an alternative holiday would be provided. Our tourists chose a full refund. Before the New Year, money was returned for half of the failed tours. After the holidays there are four more applications. Then they returned it for another one. I would like to say that this is the first tour operator who, despite such a difficult situation for him, always answers calls, always speaks correctly, and answers letters, given the flurry of calls from dissatisfied travel agents and tourists. I urge everyone to be patient, because they are faced with this problem due to circumstances beyond their control and they do not declare it, but are trying to resolve the issue with all tourists. Director of Travel Tour LLC Roman.

Grade: 5 (excellent)
01/27/2018 at 18:45, Novel

On December 25 we took a tour to Hainan. 2 days before departure, Hainan was replaced by Vietnam. We had no choice, because... They said the money would be returned within 10 days. We had to agree to Vietnam, although we were there.... but, alas.... the day before departure, this route was canceled too!!! A complete disgrace: the vacation was taken in vain, the mood was ruined... no one is going to compensate us for the additional material and moral costs..... they didn’t even apologize!!! They only expressed understanding))). I do not recommend taking tours across the Pearl River!!!

The tour operator "Pearl River" was unable to cope with the problem of Hainan. It has been reported several times previously that tour operator keeps delaying the start of flights. On the supplier's website tourism services Yesterday, January 11, a message appeared that the company was forced to make a decision to reduce the flight program. The decision will not be changed, at least during the winter navigation period.

In the message, the tour operator tries to explain to clients that he tried to do everything possible to establish normal communication with Hainan, but nothing worked. It turned out to be too difficult to provide normal conditions for transporting tourists from 5 cities at the same time. Despite the fact that it was finally possible to obtain permission from the Chinese side, the Russian side decided to introduce a ban.

In such a situation, there is nothing left but to reduce the flight program. From January 26 to March 23 this year, they plan to operate only once a week a flight from the capital to Haikou. Other flights will not be operated. Tourists who have already purchased tours can receive 100% compensation. If the option of rebooking a flight from a regional airport to a Moscow airport is suitable for the client, this can be done without additional payments. Moreover, in this case, the cost of a tour departing from Moscow will be reduced by the cost of a flight to the capital’s airport. Thus, the tour operator is trying to avoid increasing the cost of transportation for those who have already purchased a vacation in Hainan.

A. Yurov, development director of Pearl River, reports that until January 26, no flights to Hainan will be operated. As is known, the tour operator previously reported that the program will cover routes from Kazan, Ufa, Tyumen, St. Petersburg, Rostov-on-Don and Chelyabinsk. This promise remains relevant, only transferred to the period after the end of winter navigation. The carrier will be able to obtain all necessary permits only after March 23 of this year.

This situation did not go unnoticed by Rostourism employees. The department reports that they will consider issuing permits only if the carrier can provide permission from the PRC. The presence of slots at Chinese airports confirms the seriousness of the carrier’s intentions, officials are sure. IN federal agency tourism authorities call on suppliers tourism product who work with the Chinese destination, take this rule into account when planning tours so that neither they nor the tourists have problems.

It is worth recalling that the flight program to China was supposed to resume on December 21, but the event was canceled. However, a similar situation happened on November 3 last year, only then the collapse of VIM-Avia was to blame.

Why do you think Pearl River is constantly having difficulties? Are they choosing the right partners?

One and a half thousand Russian tourists could not return home from the Chinese island of Hainan due to problems with the Pearl River tour operator. The IrAero airline refused to fly Russians due to the tour operator's debts. The Federal Tourism Agency excluded both legal entities of the Pearl River from the register of tour operators. The company that sold the trips stopped working due to the “impossibility of fulfilling obligations under contracts.” Tourists' visas expired and they faced fines. As the Federal Air Transport Agency found out, for many tourists, the itinerary receipts for the return flight issued by the Pearl River turned out to be fake.

Over the course of a week, according to Rostourism, almost 1.2 thousand Russians were taken from Hainan Island.

The authorities of the Khabarovsk Territory intend to turn to the Ministry of Emergency Situations for help in evacuating Khabarovsk residents from Hainan - tourists of the Pearl River. The governor of the region, Sergei Furgal, announced this on Instagram.

More than 160 tourists from Khabarovsk are now awaiting their return to their homeland, but “nothing is known yet regarding the timing of their departure to their homeland,” Grigory Kolyshkin, an attaché at the Russian Consulate General in Guangzhou, told TASS. Earlier, a representative of the diplomatic department said that the total number of Russian tourists from the Pearl River company remaining on the island is currently difficult to estimate.

Due to the debts of the tour operator, IrAero airline suspended flights from China a week ago. By December 9, 1.5 thousand Russian clients of the Pearl River could not leave Hainan Island. This week, according to Rostourism, almost 1.2 thousand Russians were deported. Here's what one of the returning tourists, Chelyabinsk resident Alexey Kozhevnikov, said:

“We were off schedule, probably only by a day, that is, the plane was moved by a day. Of these, we spent approximately 12-13 hours at the airport. At the airport, of course, it was a pity to look at the children sleeping on chairs. We built a makeshift crib there. And so we all got to Chelyabinsk. Thank you for support. If it were not for the media, if there was no hype in the press, then it is not clear how vacationers would have gotten to Russia on their own. At the time we were leaving, there were Khabarovsk residents who were ready to fly to Moscow, they were offered to fly to Moscow on our own flight, and supposedly they would then be sent to Khabarovsk. But there was doubt whether they would be sent to Khabarovsk or left in Moscow, because the airline could not formulate it clearly, and therefore the Khabarovsk residents really staged a riot. Some of them nevertheless went on this flight, and, as far as I know, they flew to Khabarovsk. That is, the plane itself flew to Chelyabinsk, then to Moscow, in Moscow, judging by the messages in the group on VKontakte, they were even provided with a hotel with accommodation, and a little later they flew to Khabarovsk. And another group of Khabarovsk residents simply remained at Haikou airport. There was information that they seemed to have been taken to Khabarovsk directly by “Tourist Assistance”. But this is the only message, that is, unconfirmed information.”

More than 280 Pearl River tourists flew from China to Moscow

A plane with 287 Pearl River tourists took off from Haikou, China, to Moscow. TASS reports this with reference to Grigory Kolyshkin, attaché of the Russian Consulate General in Guangzhou.

“A plane of Pegas Fly, also known as Icarus, took off from the city of Haikou to Moscow,” Kolyshkin said. He added that the list of passengers was approved jointly with representatives of the Pearl River company and Pegas Fly.

Kolyshkin also noted that the issue of returning 161 tourists from Hainan to Khabarovsk is currently being considered. “Nothing is known yet regarding the timing of their sending home,” he said.

TASS, citing the IrAero airline, also reports that the plane with more than 80 tourists vacationing in Hainan arrived from Moscow to Khabarovsk. They were sent from the island first to Chelyabinsk, then to the capital, and from there to Khabarovsk.

Due to the fact that IrAero airline announced on December 7 the suspension of flights to several destinations due to Pearl River debts, more than 1.5 thousand Russian tourists were stuck in Hainan.
It also became known that the tour operator falsified tickets for some clients. Later, IrAero agreed to take out Russian tourists at its own expense. On December 12, Rostourism excluded Pearl River from the register of tour operators.

Rosaviation announced the eviction of Pearl River tourists from hotels in China

Russian tourists stuck in China due to debts from the Pearl River tour operator are being deceived into being evicted from hotels in Hainan, TASS reports, citing Sergei Izvolsky, an adviser to the head of the Federal Air Transport Agency.

According to him, the eviction is taking place under the guise of organizing a flight on an IrAero airline flight to St. Petersburg, but in reality such a flight is not planned. Deceived tourists reported evictions to the Federal Air Transport Agency, Izvolsky noted.

“They are evicted from the hotel and sent, at the insistence of Pearl River, to Haikou airport to fly on an IrAero flight to St. Petersburg, but such a flight does not exist in nature, as IrAero informed us about.” There are dozens of such tourists,” said Izvolsky. According to him, now the department is faced with the task of informing tourists that this is “another deception.” ​

Russian tourist Elmira Aliyeva told RBC that she was taken from a hotel in Hainan to the airport. “A list was compiled for a flight to Ufa, but in fact this is not yet confirmed information,<...>There are a lot of people, but they don’t register anywhere, they don’t provide information. They called the consul, he replied that “Pearl River” is not in touch at all, negotiations are underway about our “evacuation” at the Federal Tourism Agency.”

As tourist Galina Aleksandrova told RBC, she was also taken out of the hotel, but there was still no check-in for the flight upon arrival at the airport. “We were evicted from the Arcadia Hotel yesterday under the pretext that we were supposed to fly to St. Petersburg today; lists were even drawn up. We sat there all day, waited for the transfer, and after seven hours of waiting we were told that there would be no flight to St. Petersburg, and again we were brought to another hotel. And the people who agreed to fly to Ufa say that instead of 290 people at the airport there were about 400 for this flight,” said Alexandrova.

The problems of tourists brought to the Chinese island of Hainan by the Pearl River became known on December 10, when the IrAero airline announced the suspension of flights due to the tour operator’s debts to it. As a result, about 1.5 thousand Russian tourists from different cities are stuck on the island, who cannot buy tickets on their own and leave China due to the risk of overstaying their group visas (some planes with tourists were supposed to take off on December 8). Later it became known that the Pearl River tour operator falsified tickets for some tourists, while the exact number of fake tickets is unknown.

The Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against the management of a Moscow travel agency, whose clients were unable to return from China. The airline must remove stranded tourists from China at its own expense, since it has the capabilities to do so, Izvolsky previously said.

Without tickets and under threat of eviction from hotels: Russian tourists are stuck in Hainan

The Federal Tourism Agency excluded both legal entities of the Pearl River from the register of tour operators. The company stopped operating due to the “impossibility of fulfilling obligations under contracts.”

Pearl River sold several hundred Russian travelers tours to China without a return ticket to Russia. More precisely, they had an itinerary receipt for a return flight with Pegas Fly, but, as Rosaviation found out, the document was fake.

Sergei Izvolsky, adviser to the head of the Federal Air Transport Agency, said:

“Pearl River tourists provided us with documents from their tourist package, including an itinerary receipt electronic ticket. So, the flight that was supposed to take out these passengers and was listed in the electronic receipt issued by Pearl River to tourists on December 8 from Haikou to Zhukovsky could not take place, since it was not even in the plans. And several hundred clients of the Pearl River received such electronic ticket itinerary receipts. This means, in fact, this tour operator gave them tickets and bought them from the airline only one-way tickets - to China; these tourists do not have return tickets. We informed law enforcement agencies and the Federal Tourism Agency about this situation, and contacted the Russian Consulate in China. Representatives of the consulate informed us that, according to their data, more than 200 people may be in a similar situation - without a return ticket. We believe that in this case it is possible to use the financial resources of the Tourist Assistance Fund to pay the airline for the flight. The cost of a flight from Zhukovsky to Haikou will be more than 200 thousand dollars: this is fuel, this is service at airports in Russia and China. A very large amount. But now we don’t leave passengers in the lurch; we negotiate with airlines so that they issue tickets to passengers even from other companies who, in some unknown way, were supposed to fly.”

Difficulties with air transportation have plagued Pearl River literally from the moment it entered the Russian market last summer, Kommersant writes.
At first, VIM-avia was supposed to be its main partner, but in the fall of 2017 the carrier stopped working.

Then the tour operator collaborated with Pegas Fly, but the Chinese authorities did not approve flights to Hainan several times for this airline. Another tour operator carrier, Alrosa Airlines, had similar difficulties.
As the publication writes, many tour operators working in this direction have faced the cancellation of agreed flight programs to Hainan or delays in obtaining a slot. There really is such a problem, and Pearl River did not have the right to send tourists without all the approvals, says Dmitry Gorin, adviser to the head of Rostourism, general director of the VIP-Service holding, member of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia:

Dmitry Gorin, advisor to the head of Rostourism, vice-president of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia

“There really is one difficulty in this area - it’s difficult to get a slot. Slot is the actual arrival and departure time of a private flight. Many carriers sometimes spend up to three months on this to agree on a slot. In this situation, programs are often disrupted or postponed. There was an order: it is unacceptable to sell until all permits have been received. tourist trips in this direction, and in such a situation, probably all our regulators will once again take control of this. Previously, the major carrier on this route was VIM-Avia, which ceased its operations. It was with the departure of this carrier that it was difficult to get updated slots. In the situation that has now arisen, in fact throughout the year, since December there have been postponements and cancellations of tours, including due to non-receipt of slots. But this is not a basis for excuses.”

Dmitry Rudenko from Kursk was supposed to fly from Hainan on Saturday. New surprises await him, like other tourists, every day. According to the Federal Air Transport Agency, many clients of the tour operator “Pearl River” had return air tickets that turned out to be fake; they did not even have plans for these flights.
Some tourists are still being deceived from their hotels and being sent to the airport on a non-existent flight. Dmitry, who was planning to return to Moscow, was also offered to fly to other cities on flights that were not available in reality.

“We have already been moved from hotel to hotel twice. The guides strongly suggested flying to Ufa or St. Petersburg, but we refused, sensing something was wrong. We did not see those who flew to Ufa; they remained at the airport because IrAero did not allow them on board. St. Petersburg left in the evening and returned; they were also refused at the airport, but at least they were accepted back and resettled. We don't know whether they will take us out of here or not. Thank God we are still eating and living.”

Alexey Kozhevnikov, who came to Hainan from Chelyabinsk with his wife, has a ticket until Thursday; they hope to fly home on Friday. Panic among tourists is growing every day, patience is at its limit.

“My wife and I are here alone, and we fully understand the families who came with small children. Now they are huddled in an unknown place, they are transported from place to place. In a closed chat, information appears that some people are being evicted from the hotel either fraudulently or with the help of the police. They are not allowed to attend breakfast, only children are served with plates of some kind of food.”

One and a half thousand tourists from the Pearl River, which has now ceased operations, are stuck in Hainan. The tour operator was incredibly attractive low prices for trips to China: for 20-25 thousand rubles per person. Agents were offered high commissions for selling tours, namely 18%. There have already been flight disruptions, but they turned a blind eye to them.
The founder of an individual tourism company advises tour buyers to check hotel and air ticket reservations in advance before going on vacation.

I recommend everyone to check their hotel reservation. After payment, a week later write direct letters to the hotel and check, since the voucher that is issued cannot be made into a full-scale official legal document. It is issued by the company itself on its own letterhead, with its own logo, and it is very easy to fake.
- What should I do with the tickets?
- Unfortunately, there is no way to check with tickets. If these are charters, then in no way at all, but if these are regular flights, then in the same way as hotels.

Clients of the Pearl River will probably have to be brought back at the expense of the association's "Tour Assistance" fund.
Tourists in the VKontakte chat are discussing that the company allegedly employs the same people as the Southern Cross operator, which went bankrupt four years ago, and its tourists also discovered that their hotels and return tickets had not been paid for.

“We are afraid to end up on the street.” Russian tourists cannot leave Hainan

Tourists stuck in Hainan are waiting for a flight to Russia.

Dmitry was supposed to fly out on Saturday. He says that many tourists run out of money because they have to pay for food themselves. Those who are happy about the extension of vacation are few, he says:

“It turns out that our stay was extended. We only have breakfast, that is, lunch and dinner at our own expense, if we want to eat, then at our own expense. Naturally, people all traveled, like us, for example, for seven days and expected cash exactly for seven days. Nobody knew about this, if they knew, they saved money somewhere, everything is quite sad about it. Tomorrow is the 11th, again the situation is unclear, tomorrow, we have already been told, we will be evicted and, it seems, transported to another hotel. We are afraid to be on the street. There is no panic as such. A few people here: “Oh, hurray, the vacation has been extended, great.” “Everyone else is worried, because everyone has work, something to do at home.”

Alexey Kozhevnikov and his wife came to Hainan from Chelyabinsk, and compared to other tourists they have a comfortable situation: the hotel voucher expires only on the 13th:

“Every day we see tourists who are collected, taken somewhere, then a day or two later they are brought to our hotel, or at the reception we ask: “Where have they taken you?” But two hours later they are still standing at the reception, and it seems like they were just dropped off somewhere, but for some reason they were brought back. Typically, in the VKontakte group I published information about how tourists should somehow keep in touch with each other, and a representative of a travel agency contacted me, that is, it turns out, an intermediary between tour operators and tourists. She reported that her tourists had disappeared from sight for several days, that is, she could not reach her tourists, whom she sent from Khabarovsk, by phone or follow up. For several days these people are nowhere to be seen, not heard, they do not appear on social networks.”

The representative office of Pearl River in Russia, according to information from the company’s official website, opened in 2017. A travel agent working in one of the Russian regions said that the Pearl River had problems last year, but then the tourists got their money back:

“I can’t give you any negative information about the Pearl River, because I came across it last year, I had the same situation, but the money was returned to us in full, they work very clearly in this regard. We received refunds. This year I didn’t plant, I was very afraid. When I already realized that tourists were returning, telling their relatives how well they had a flight, tourists simply also asked: let’s book, we want it too. Then our tourists flew away, they were accommodated, they were there, they wrote to me that everything was fine, then bookings continued, and now it happened. “Pearl River” is getting in touch, they say that the issue will be resolved now.”

Natalya from Chelyabyansk was able to return to Russia, but with adventures: at first it turned out that the tour operator did not pay for her hotel in full. Then, when the tourists were unable to fly away, they were sent to the zoo instead of a hotel:

“We were brought to the airport on time, but it turned out that the flight was delayed. There is free water at the airport; tourists bought Doshirak from vending machines and could brew their own noodles. As a result, we were put on buses and told that we were given free excursion to the zoo. They brought us to the zoo and decided to feed us lunch first. At two o'clock they brought us to the restaurant at the zoo and only at three o'clock did the food arrive. Naturally, everyone attacked her, because at night there was eviction from the hotels, everyone was hungry. After that we walked around the zoo, at five or six o'clock we were already sitting on the bus waiting for our departure. But not an hour later, not even two hours later, we never left this zoo, because the guides were waiting for orders from the authorities on where to take us.”

In total, there are about one and a half thousand Pearl River tourists in China, who are to be transported by IrAero airline. The Russian Consulate General reported that it is keeping the situation under control and providing advisory assistance to Russian tourists.

One and a half thousand Russian tourists cannot return home from China

While everyone is accommodated in hotels, the Russian consulate in Hainan forwards their requests to Rostourism, and due to the weekend, the relevant Russian departments do not help their compatriots. The situation is complicated by the fact that most tourists have group visas. Even those who save money for a return ticket will not be able to leave the island alone.

In addition, tourists' visas expire. According to the law, delay threatens Russians with big troubles, including fines. Apparently, on Monday the Federal Air Transport Agency, Rostourism and the Ministry of Transport will try to force IrAero to fulfill its obligations to passengers, suggested the press secretary of the Russian Union of Travel Industry Irina Tyurina:

The airline announced on Friday that due to large debts accumulated by the tour operator Pearl River, they would stop flights and will no longer serve passengers. The question immediately arises: what does accumulated debt mean? Who forced the airline to accumulate this debt? Who forced her to take tourists to China on unpaid flights? That is, they have money to take tourists out, but they don’t have money to bring them back. In this situation, the airline is obliged to return back all the tourists it flew out. And I believe that the market regulator - Rosaviation, together with the Ministry of Transport, Rostourism and so on will force the airline to return all the tourists. Here you also need to keep in mind that on Thursday the Pearl River tour operator announced the appearance of an investor - a Chinese company that plans to invest, according to Pearl River representatives, $100 million in these flight programs to Hainan. And on Friday the airline announced that it would no longer serve tourists. That is, the airline apparently decided that since there was some money floating around somewhere, then you will first pay us back all the debts, and then we will serve your clients. This is called blackmail. And since everything happens on weekends here, no one deals with these tourists, no consulate that sends them to Rostourism, or an airline that for some reason sends them to Tourist Assistance. "Tour Pomosch" will be engaged in the removal of tourists only if the tour operator has announced a cessation of activities. But the tour operator “Pearl River” does not announce the cessation of activities and does not communicate at all, does not answer calls.

About the Russians who were just about to fly to China with the Pearl River, bought a ticket, vouchers, what should they do?

They, I think, are now beating travel agencies to figure out what to do. Travel agencies are trying to get some information from the tour operator, apparently, he is not very ready to communicate, because, in any case, the executive director, commercial director of Pearl River does not answer calls, that is, they have to wait, or they will fly away later, if they can, they will either wait for some offers from the tour operator if he continues to operate, or offers to compensate for the tours, but this can only be through financial guarantees, and financial guarantees are ridiculous.

According to Irina Tyurina, the Pearl River tour operator has apparently been experiencing financial problems for a long time. There are two in the Unified Federal Register of Tour Operators legal entities, which in fact form this company. And each of the legal entities has financial guarantees of only 10 million rubles.

“These are just ridiculous numbers compared to the volumes they move,” Tyurina was indignant. Despite the fact that they regularly sent charter planes to Hainan. Judging by the register data, over the past year one of these legal entities served only 45 people.

The press secretary of Rostourism also noted that, at least, visa problems of Russian tourists in China will be resolved at the diplomatic level, and fines will not affect them. Carrier "IrAero" - Russian airline, based in international airport Irkutsk, in its fleet there are 28 aircraft. IrAero refuses to communicate with the press, citing the day off.

According to Rostourism, all Pearl River tourists have return tickets. By law, the air carrier is obliged to return them to their homeland on the specified dates. On November 29, the head of the department sent appeals to the Prosecutor General's Office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia and Rospotrebnadzor with a request to give a legal assessment of the situation, the actions of its participants and take response measures. Business FM was also unable to reach the Pearl River tour operator.

This is not the first incident with the IrAero charter. On November 22, the airline was supposed to take 280 Russians from the resort of Hainan, but the plane broke down and the carrier had to wait a long time for spare parts. As a result, tourists were able to return only three days later.