Travel companies of Kyrgyzstan lose clients from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka through the fault of officials. The Kyrgyz Association of Tour Operators (KATO) told 24.kg news agency.
«Any travel company could submit an invitation for tourists. But new rules have been introduced recently that only firms included in the register of the Tourism Department after passing a special check can submit invitations for tourists from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. At the same time, the travel companies were not notified of the changes. Firms that had difficulties in advertising the country during the pandemic began to receive the first applications and apply for visas, but these tourists began to receive answers that the travel companies were not on the register and they could not be invited,» the Association informed.
Members of KATO, they said, applied to the Department of Tourism to get the lists of companies included in the register. The result surprised them.
«It turned out that 80 percent of the companies in the register are firms that we have never heard of. Yes, maybe they are full-fledged companies that do not advertise themselves, but this is odd that the leading travel companied of the country do not know them. At the same time, there are even individual entrepreneurs, that is, private individuals on the register, and we, travel companies with a huge work experience, cannot invite our guests,» KATO said.
The Association urged officials to look into the matter and not to spoil the 2022 tourist season. KATO also complained about delays in issuing visas to tourists.
