cancelled tours

Interesting. Why cancel a whole tour? Why not just skip the Russia stop? Probably something else like low attendance or too close to a war zone. Putin could care less about it. His ego is focused on dominance and not on tourist dollars.

Threadwear, I find it even more interesting that you won't take a person at their word. If the reason given is to keep from putting money in Putin's pocket, why would you dispute that?

Why cancel a whole tour? Why not just skip the Russia stop?

On a short term basis, finding somewhere else to go, making reservations and doing the needed research on what to see & do is likely a major factor.

The Tour was 2 nights Helsinki; 2 nights Tallinn and 4 nights St Petersburg.

Pretty clear why 'just skip the Russia stop' is not practical.

If a tour is cancelled, the customer's money is refunded.
If a tour is changed and as a result is inadequate compared to the original tour, the customer has no recourse.

Interesting. Why cancel a whole tour? Why not just skip the Russia stop?

As someone who worked in the tour industry, let me say that reworking a major portion of a tour is not done overnight. In fact, it can take months to put together a new itinerary. It's not just changing a room here or there, it's multiple rooms, itinerares, coaches, sights, etc.

If a tour is changed and as a result is inadequate compared to the original tour, the customer has no recourse.

If RS changed the tour to replace St. Petersburg, then technically, he is offering a different tour and one that was different from the one people signed up for. Anyone who did not want to take the new tour would be entitled to a full refund.

The smartest thing would be to cancel the tours.

When I was running tours, I was reminded it was imperative that everything promised in the tour itinerary was offered. If it wasn't, and it wasn't prevented due to external sources, then the customer could be due a partial refund. Customers have a lot of recourse if they don't get what's promised.

Thanks Joe32F for the answer I was looking for on the RS site. I couldn't find that tour. Did not know there were 4 days in Russia.

Thanks Frank II for the insight on tours. Given Joe32F info I can see how making an alternate plan could be difficult. Not sure when those tours start. I assumed because of the weather in that area RS might have tried an alternate sight, but as you imply 4 days is tough to fill.

Carol now retired: I wasn't disputing RS political stand and why he cancelled. However, I do find it interesting that we discuss here on this forum all the time that we always hurt the front line people of tourism when people boycott a country because of a government's decision. That is why I said Putin could care less about tourist dollars. It doesn't affect him. It affects the Russian people who are trying to make a living in tourism.

I get what you’re saying Threadwear. Everyday Russians are being punished n every way too. All these sanctions hit them. No soccer, No Grand Prix, No hockey, No ballet. No travel. No banking….On and on. If they were a depressed group of people before….during Covid and their “vaccine”….now this??