A headache with advertising effect

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   From the 25th of November the Consulate of Great Britain in Moscow ceased receiving applications for visas (BANKO wrote about the coming change back on 11.11). This way, up until the 1st of April 2006 (when submitting of documents to the embassy will be carried out via the third party – it will be chosen as a tender) the work with private visits will be put on shoulders on tour operators recommended by the Consulate. Out of 1000 accredited companies the Consulate chose about twelve. They are listed on the site: www.britishembassy.gov.uk.
   According to experts, 40% of visitors traveling to the UK traditionally process their documents independently, without contacting travel firms. So the authorized companies will have a lot of work with the visa service. ‘At the moment we are already receiving a huge amount of phone calls’, said Andrei Ignatiev, chairman of the board of directors of BSI group. ‘Often holiday-makers are not prepared at all’, says Valeria Krasilnikova, head of the UK department in ‘PAK Group’. The increased amount of applications is witnessed by representatives of other companies too. ‘To assist in the processing of applications, the English promised not to use the tax sanctions, if in existing situations we will submit slightly incorrect documents’, said Oleg Blakirev, deputy general director at DSBW-Tours-Континент Олег Балакирев. ‘The situation would have become a real headache for us if it did not have any advertising effect’.
   The advantages of the companies to whom the consulate delegated a part of its functions is obvious. Tour operators received a chance to considerably widen their database of corporate, individual and quality clients whom, applying for a visa to us for the first time will, possibly, stay with the firm and be its’ customer for other destinations. The expenses of a tour operator in this case on such a direct and reliable route to a customer are mostly organizational rather than financial. The price dictated by the British – 1000-1500 for processing of documents for each applicant allows travel firms to compensate the administrative costs on increasing staff.
   It is no wonder that the ambitious players of the destination who got into the list of recommended firms set the prices even lower than those enforced by the embassy for the processing of documents, from the very first day of the new system coming into force. BSI group, a company topping the list, charges only 600 roubles for processing documents. ‘PAK group’ charges from 500 to 700 for a visa.