From the beginning of autumn in Russia, when traveling around the country, electronic vouchers and QR codes will become mandatory, which should display basic information about travelers and their trip.. Operators and travel agents will enter information into a single electronic system. The last few years have been preparing for the launch of the system, which should help legalize the market. Izvestia studied the document and talked with experts about what it will mean for the tourists themselves, as well as for the players in the tourism market..
Journey through QR-code
The bill, according to which tour operators will be required to enter information about the traveler and the trip into a single electronic databaseby issuing the so-called electronic voucher, was adopted at the end of May this year – then the State Duma approved the document immediately in the second and third readings. However, its norms will become mandatory for all travel agents and tour operators of the country from September.
AT lawin particular, the definition of the very concept of “electronic voucher” is given. We are talking about a document “generated in electronic form in a unified information system of electronic vouchers based on the information contained in the contract for the sale of a tourist product and submitted by the tour operator in the manner prescribed by this Federal Law.”
“The federal law establishes the obligation of the tour operator to transfer the information contained in the agreement on the sale of the tourist product to the unified information system of electronic vouchers and the obligation of the travel agent to send the tour operator a notification of the conclusion of such an agreement, and also determines the procedure and terms for the performance by the tour operator and the travel agent of these duties,” the statement says. in the document.
The procedure and terms for the formation of vouchers, as well as its structure, as well as a number of other processes related to its formation, will be determined by the Russian government. When if the tour operator violates the ban on the sale of tours without sending information to the unified system of electronic vouchers, passes false information or simply does it too late, it may be excluded from the federal register of tour operators.
However, liability for violations of the provisions of the new bill can only threaten from 2023.
The innovation was discussed for several years – the bill itself was approved in the first reading two years agorecalled the head of the State Duma Tourism Committee Sangadzhi Tarbaev.
At the same time, the final document differs significantly from the original one.. First of all, from the point of view of the proposed mechanism for financing the system: if it was previously assumed that the electronic register would be formed at the expense of contributions from tour operators, then in the end funds from the federal budget will be allocated for this, follows from the document.
After the tourist concludes an agreement in writing, data about him and the upcoming trip will be displayed in the form of a QR code. Wherein tourists will be able to receive information contained in the unified information system of electronic vouchers. Including to protect their interests.
The fight against “street” operators
The development of the system has been carried out since 2014, initially the launch was planned in 2018recalls Evgeny Zaramenskikh, Professor at the Higher School of Business at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, Head of the Department of Business Informatics.
The launch of this system will allow government agencies to form an understanding of the number of tours and tourism products that are sold in the country, as well as the operators and agents that are involved in this process. This, in turn, should help “whitewash” the existing market.he believes.
“Today, there is no such understanding, and as a result, there are many “gray” zones in the industry, some of which are also used to organize fraudulent schemes to the detriment of tourists. The system of electronic vouchers will allow the state to make the industry more transparent, – says the interlocutor of the publication.
Buying tours “by hand”, from unverified agents or service providers, tourists risk becoming victims of scammersYuri Yakovlev, director of the Tvil.ru hotel booking service development department, agrees. The introduction of an electronic certification system, in his opinion, will help minimize these risks..
“As a rule, such “street” tour operators do not transfer information from the contract with the tourist to a single information system,” he explains. – In order to protect consumers from unscrupulous companies and ensure that tour operators fulfill their obligations to customers, a law was signed on an electronic voucher, which allows you to track the status of the tour by the number of the concluded contract: whether the money was received from the agent to the operator, whether the ticket was issued, whether the hotel was booked.
From the point of view of safety for a tourist, it is optimal either to buy tours from an agent who is ready to conclude an agreement, including in electronic form, or to independently plan travel and book tickets and hotels directly, the expert concludes.
An electronic voucher can help to systematize the activities of travel agencies and make the rest more comfortable and safe, is supported by Inna Ryndina, commercial director of the Russian Seasons Hotel Group. Wherein the use of this system can become a kind of guarantee for both tourists and hotels, which are also interested in working “with reliable partners”the interlocutor of the publication expects.
“Giving domestic tourists the opportunity to track the beginning and end of the route, from the selected airline to the type of food, the new system will actually make the market more transparent, obliging the tour operator to enter the parameters of each tour package sold,” she is sure.
Among travel companies and operators, those that already use the necessary software will be in a more advantageous position.says Vladislav Shevtsov, Nemo.Travel Sales Director.
Such companies, among other things, will be able to count on the necessary support from vendors and software developers..
– A number of travel companies have their own development, respectively, they will have to spend both on the implementation of data transfer mechanisms, including ensuring the required level of security, and on possible equipment upgrades to ensure the proper level of protection, – the expert noted.
At the same time, some travel agencies are likely to have to spend money on updating software and equipment, he does not exclude.
Yevgeny Zaramenskikh calls improbable difficulties with the preparation of the necessary infrastructure. In his opinion, the availability of the necessary equipment from travel agencies and operators “is practically beyond doubt.”
— To use the system, you need a computer with Internet access. It is unlikely that today in Russia there are travel agents and operators who do not use a computer and the Internet in their activities, he argues.
In general, the launch of the system will have “a limited impact on industry participants in the face of travel agents, tour operators and tourists,” the expert predicts.
Sensitive Data
The risk of personal data leaks related to the functioning of the new unified system remains low, the majority of experts interviewed by Izvestia are sure. However, it cannot be completely ruled out..
The information system “Electronic Voucher” has existed for several years, but this year entering information into it will become mandatory for tour operators. Nevertheless, the largest Russian tour operators have been transmitting data to it for two years already, recalls Nikita Nazarov, technical director of the IT company HFLabs.
Back in 2020, “Electronic Voucher”, according to him, received an indefinite certificate of compliance with the information security requirements for the state information system in the second class of security (K2).
– It the middle class of security, which indicates, among other things, that the system operator must proactively monitor and respond to current threats. Simply put, do not wait for a leak to occur, but assess the risks and do everything to prevent it from happening.– explains the source of the publication.
Besides, the second class of security involves the differentiation of access rights to personal data: users of the system will not have access to the entire array of personal data contained in it, the expert explains.
However, if a leak occurs, the information array may contain “very sensitive data”, including names and surnames, addresses of residence, which will be adjacent to travel dates, based on which it is possible to calculate at what time the apartment will be empty – recognizes Nazarov.
However, so far, the security expert notes, he does not see any serious risks for leaks: the certification of the Federal Service for Technical and Export Control, in his opinion, demonstrates a “sufficient level of security.”
— So user data must be securely protected, but it is difficult to say how this is implemented in practice.he sums up.
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