Choosing their own way

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On October the 27th, BANKO inquired into the fate of Russian tourists staying in Mexican resort areas who had suffered from Wilma Hurricane. Tatiana Kim, a manager of Mexican Club, said that at the time the company had two tourists in the country who originally were scheduled to stay there during October 18 – 30. After the emergency situation in Cancun Russian holiday-makers were evacuated to Merida, where they were accommodated in a hotel belonging to the same chain, Fiesta American 5*. ‘Our tourists do not wish to end their vacation earlier,’ - Tatiana Kim says. ‘The weather in Merida is lovely and our clients asked us for an opportunity to stay there a bit longer.” Meanwhile, it is not yet decided on the return of these tourists. According to the travel firm, Austrian Airlines that took the tourists to Cancun cancelled the return flight on October the 30th and has not set a new date. The travel firm has not yet managed to get any information from the airline concerning its plans.
   Alexander Bessudnov, a department manager from PAK Group, told BANKO correspondent that two tourists of this company were expected to return from Mexico on that day. They flew to Cancun on Condor flight Moscow - Frankfurt – Cancun and were supposed to return the same way. But due to the force-major they were also evacuated to Merida, and from Merida they flew to Mexico City with a local airline they had to pay tickets themselves. But from Mexico City they were sent by Lufthansa to Moscow via Frankfurt at the airlines’ expense.
   Two Smart Travel’s holiday-makers had a vacation in Cancun and, ultimately, also found themselves in Merida. The period of their stay in Mexico was from October 6 to 20, but Lufthansa was ready to organize the return flight from Merida to St. Petersburg via Frankfurt only on October 31. ‘To find a possibility to return the tourists, we had to work until midnight. We have to give credit to the staff of Lufthansa’s Mexican office – they were very cooperative and did everything possible to put tourists on flights and arrange connections. However, the return flight could only be organized on that date,’ explained Evgenia Dirdovskaya.
   Local authorities announced to all those stuck in Mexico that they should go to the airport, come to the registration counter with tickets, report about themselves and then wait for an opportunity to get on a return flight which would have vacant seats. In the end, the Russian customers of Smart Travel did it and are now on the way to Russia.
   Meanwhile, BANKO correspondents failed to obtain any systematic information about Russian tourists in the Information Department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mikhail Kalynin, Director of Information and Press Department of Russia’s Foreign Ministry, is on a business trip at the moment. Department’s staff assured us that he would get in touch with BANKO’s editorial office on Friday.