The Ministry of Economic Development has received a proposal from the Union of Business Tourism Agencies (SAD) to create a separate OKVED (reference book of codes denoting business areas) in Russia for companies operating in this field. The business community believes that uniform standards will strengthen competition in the tourism industry, which currently accounts for 18% of the market and is estimated at 1.5 trillion rubles. However, the Russian ministry considers such unification unnecessary.
“A separate code will help bring order to procurement and protect the market from unscrupulous players,” emphasized Tatyana Lenshina, executive director of the Trivio service.
According to Izvestia, the letter from the Union of Travel Agencies is authentic, as confirmed by three sources within the Union itself, as well as a representative of the Ministry of Economic Development. Lyubov Vasilyeva, head of the Ostrovok Komandirovki service, says that this huge market remains unnoticed by the state and investors. Therefore, it is impossible to fully assess the contribution of business tourism to the economy. Vasilyeva notes that although traditional travel agencies organize such trips, their goal is completely different.
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