Tourism and Hospitality

Tourism and hospitality are under special control by the state. Brief overview of legal acts that regulate tourist business and hospitality leads to this conclusion. In particular, law of this sector is formed of 2 main legal acts: Decree of Russian government from 09.10.2015 N 1085 “Establishment of Rules of rendering hospitality services in the Russian Federation” and Federal law from 24.11.1996 number 132-F3 “About the basis of tourist operation in the Russian Federation”.

These sources of law are special, that is why common legal acts (e.g. Civil Law Act of the Russian Federation, “Protection of consumer rights” Law of the Russian Federation 07.02.1992 N2300-1) will be applied in areas which are not regulated by the acts mentioned in the first paragraph.

From mentioned above the important conclusion can be drawn – most of lawyers without specific knowledge in the field of tourism and hospitality are not able to give legal advice in these areas. This is linked to large amount of legal nuisances that are included in the Decree of Russian government from 09.10.2015 N 1085 “Establishment of Rules of rendering hospitality services in the Russian Federation” and Federal Law “For the basics of tourist activity in the Russian Federation”.

Supposedly, some would think that we deliberately make things seem more complicated, but that is incorrect. The severity of laws on tourism and hospitality can be seen from s.14.51 Administrative Misconduct Act of Russian Federation. In particular s. 14.51 (1) of the Act establishes administrative fee of 5-10 million rubles, s.14.51(2) of the Act – from 0,5 to 1 million rubles and s.14.51(3) – from 1 to 3 million rubles not to mention that tour operator can be excluded from the registry.

The liability for misconducts in hospitality is surrounded by a significant amount of administrative acts: ss. 6.3, 6.4, 6.5, 6.6, 6.7, 6.8, 14.7, 14.8, 14.15, and 14.3 of Administrative Misconduct Act of Russian Federation. We won’t scare you with the list of sections under the Criminal Law Act, but they also include business activity in tourism sector. The list is indefinite.

Above, we mentioned the consequences of public misconduct, if we are considering private law litigation it gets even more complicated.

There are more and more precedents carried out not in favor of tour operator, for example in 2007, Court of Novosibirsk vindicated 50,000 rubles from the tour operator for the unpleasant smell in the hotel room. Also, not so long ago, court satisfied the claim of the tourist who missed his trip due to the illness and appointed 120,000 rubles in favor of the claimant. There are a lot of analogous precedents and the size of the liability is up to 1 million rubles.  

The sums are overwhelming and the information provided required time to process. The only thing is clear – for the successful operation in the given field competent legal advice is needed not only in the beginning, but in the due course as well.

As was mentioned above, similar task may be above the competence of the ordinary lawyer or lawyer who is used to common law dealings. The absence of the competent legal advice increases risks of unpleasant financial and legal outcome of dealings.

Given its large office of qualified lawyers, Prime Legal LLC works not only in common law but also with special areas of law. These areas include commercial dealings in tourist sector.

We offer following services in the area of tourism and hospitality in Russia

• Analysis of documents
• Consulting for tour agencies and tour operators
• Consulting for hospitality management
• Assistance in the receiving of status of tour operator
• Assistance in litigation with state authorities
• Presence on court hearings in any court jurisdiction including private litigation
• Other legal services linked with tourism and hospitality business.

If you value your time and money, contact us and you will receive qualified legal help. We guarantee quality of our service, following given communications and attention for every client. Contact us today and tomorrow we will act in your best interests.