The Italian Embassy in Russia Called Tour Operators For Help

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   The issue that generated the greatest interest at the meeting of Russian tour operators with Enrico Nunziata, the Head of the Consulate Section of the Italian Embassy in Moscow, which was held on April 20th, was the visa problems of the destination. ‘We admit that we have problems in the visa Department. At the moment the tourist flow to Italy is increasing, while a number of consulate agents has not grown – we have only five people responsible for visas. Therefore, sometimes we do not issue visas within the set time ceiling – 48 hours’, said Nunziata.
    According to experts, the situation with personnel in the Italian Embassy in Russia will stabilize as soon as the new government is formed in Italy. Meanwhile, Enrico Nunziata, suggested an interim measure in order to solve the current problems – tour operators that sent many tourists to the country are supposed to put data about tourists in the system of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that will allow reducing visa-issuing period by 60%.
    Meanwhile, tour operators show enthusiasm towards the changes within visa application process: ‘this will indeed simplify the formal procedure’, commented Nelli Ionkina, General Director of Ital Travel.
   Furthermore, tour operators also focused the attention on visa cancellations for Russian tourists. Nunziata, however, pointed out that every year there are only around 2, 000 cancellations for 200, 500 issued visas. According to him, travel companies themselves are responsible for ‘filtering’ their clients trying to recognize potential emigrants.