The situation around the group of Russian tourists stuck in the transit zone of Guangzhou Airport in China, was resolved. This was stated in Rostourism.

According to the ministry, “27 people got into a difficult situation and bought tickets on their own from the airline brokers”.

“When buying tickets, they were not warned about the rules of the transit zone. At the moment, according to the Federal Tourism Agency, the situation has been resolved, ”RIA Novosti reports the department’s statements.

In the Russian Consulate General in Guangzhou, explained that Russian tourists were sent in transit through China. However, their chosen flight Guangzhou - Moscow makes a technical stop in another location in China - the city of Wuhan.

The Chinese migration authorities consider such a flight as a domestic flight, which requires a transit visa.

Earlier, the Consulate General’s Attaché, Grigori Kolyshkin, told RIA Novosti that the appeal was received from passengers from Phuket, Thailand, and Denpasar from Indonesia.

It is noted that the staff of the Consulate General contacted representatives of the migration service of the Guangzhou International Airport and found out the circumstances of the forced delay of Russian passengers.

The consulate general sent a note to the migration authorities of Guangzhou asking for assistance in obtaining transit visas. According to the ministry, by 5:00 pm the appeal was positively reviewed, and all tourists received a transit visa.

“In addition, the Chinese side decided to replace the air tickets to the city of Urumqi on the flight CZ6884, which at 18:50 (13:50 Moscow time) flew to Urumqi and then to Moscow,” the diplomatic mission said on the official page of "Vkontakte".

As the diplomats specified, four people decided to purchase tickets to St. Petersburg themselves.

In its turn, the Rosturizm recommended that tourists, when buying tickets with transit through the foreign country themselves, clarify whether it is necessary to issue a visa of the appropriate type for the flight.

“At the same time, we note that in accordance with international law, a foreign party reserves the right to refuse, without giving reasons, to issue visas or not to allow individuals to enter, including if they have appropriate visas or travel documents,” Rostourism noted .

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When planning a trip, you need to analyze all the rules and conditions relating to both flight rules and visa restrictions, agreed the vice-president of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, Dmitry Gorin, in an interview with RT.

According to him, the mistakes are usually made by independent travelers who do not take into account the need for transit visas when the plane makes an intermediate landing.

“In this situation, of course, a visa is necessary. In any case, all this information can be clarified with tour operators, with travel agents, with self-booking there are rules everywhere, ”said Gorin.

The expert stressed that if the trip is organized as part of a travel package, the tour operator should take care of all issues related to visa formalities.

Over 2.5 thousand tourists in Hainan

In December 2018, more than 2.5 thousand tourists from Russia were stuck on the Chinese island of Hainan because of the debt of the tour operator "Pearl River" to the carrier. Several hundred tourists were considered to be stuck on the island initially, however, the time paid for the tours expired and the number of people affected by the tour operator’s actions grew.

As events developed, Rosturizm excluded the Pearl River company from the unified federal register of tour operators. To resolve the situation, several employees of the department immediately went to Hainan, and an urgent meeting was held at the Ministry of Transport.

As a result, tourists were taken by several flights from Hainan to different cities of Russia.

“In the period from December 8 to December 21, domestic carriers, as well as involving the mechanism of emergency export of tourists at the expense of the Turpomosch association, took out 2,709 tourists to the cities of Novokuznetsk, Kemerovo, Barnaul, Tomsk, Chita, Kazan, Ufa, Chelyabinsk, Samara , Khabarovsk, Krasnoyarsk and Moscow, ”the press service of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade and Transport of Russia noted.