U-turn In a French Style

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   Top managers of many Moscow travel companies spent the first working day in May at doors of the French Embassy, which failed to issue around 1, 500 visas the day before.
   At 12 a.m. representatives of three tour operating companies - DSBW, Inters and Tourtrans-voyage – negotiated with the Consul of France in Moscow. However, it was found out that the Embassy does not plan to make alterations within their working schedule. Nevertheless, the Embassy suggested issuing visas valid during the month for tourists to have an opportunity to rebook their tours. At 3 p.m. the French Embassy started issuing visas. By 7 p.m. according to travel agents the situation was stabilized. Thus, Karen Goncharov, General Director of DSBW tours, commented: ‘at 6.25 p.m. our courier came out of the Embassy with the documents of practically all tourists who leave for France on May 3rd’.
   Meanwhile, travel market players do not rush into making forecasts regarding the development of events. However, they point out some positive tendencies: ‘it is important that the French Embassy finally realized the implications of the problem and they tried to solve it’, said Goncharov.