Chairman of the Board of Directors and shareholder of TEZ TOUR Alexander Sinigibsky in an interview with the Turkish edition "Tourism Today" denied rumors that negotiations were underway to sell the company.
TT: Alexander Ivanovich, thank you for your willingness to comment on all possible guesses about the work of the international tour operator TEZ TOUR in the current economic situation. So, does TEZ TOUR have plans to sell its business in any of the countries?
A. S.: Let's start with the fact that, in theory, in commerce, in business, you can buy anything and sell anything. Offer any person double the price of his phone, and he will immediately sell it to you. At the same time, I want to note right away that over the past year, the international tour operator TEZ TOUR not only did not sell anything, but, on the contrary, bought several new businesses. We continue to invest in the development of new directions and have opened two offices: on the island of Sardinia in Italy and in South Cyprus. At the same time, already in the first season, we became the first in terms of volumes in Sardinia and fourth in Cyprus. Also this year we have planned France and started the construction of a hotel in Minsk. This, I note, is what TEZ TOUR has been working on for the last year alone, against the background of all the talk about its possible sale. We are ready to remove from the sphere of our business only non-core, non-tourist assets.
Therefore, when journalists write about any sales or purchases of one company to another, they must represent and understand the subject of their journalistic investigation with full responsibility. Announcing the acquisition of such a large international tour operator as TEZ TOUR, even a part of it, first of all it is necessary to assess the solvency and potential of the company that allegedly intends to carry out such a historic project. Such deals on mergers, acquisitions, sale of companies are of great marketing value, and the parties are always actively talking about synergies and emerging market potential. Be sure that if we want to sell or buy something, it will become a great informational occasion for the tourism business of our countries. Therefore, I have a earnest request to journalists from all serious business, and not only tourism. If you write that “someone bought someone,” be clear about not only the possible desires, but also the desired capabilities of the heroes of your legends.
TT: Of course, the tourism industry is very susceptible to market fluctuations and is instantly overgrown with rumors and guesses. Could you please clarify the situation around TEZ TOUR, where did the hints of negotiations about the sale of the tour operator to other companies come from?
A. S.: Tour operator TEZ TOUR has not yet initiated such negotiations. However, I will not deny that there is some interest from the outside, which could provoke some rumors and speculations on this topic. For example, quite recently one of our base hotels was visited by the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Anı Tur, a certain Mr. Veli Chilsal. He came as a representative of an agency wishing to work with our company, and as a result offered to enter our business as a partner. Thanking him for his attention and appreciation of our work, I politely but firmly refused him. Just a few days later an article was published in the press in which it was written in a clear printed word that “Ani Tour buys TEZ TOUR”. It is unlikely that in serious business circles this can be called "negotiations." By the way, as far as I learned from the same article, Mr. Chilsal confidently asserts that "the negotiations are continuing."
TT: Earlier on the market there was also an active discussion about the merger of your company with the tour operator Biblio Globus. Did you receive any business proposal for cooperation from and from them? Please comment
A. S.: No, it has not been reported. To fully understand the picture of what is happening, I will immediately note that in Turkey there is simply no company with the name "Biblio Globus". There is only its host company Time Service, which was recently reanimated for the operational business. What kind of purchase or merger can we talk about if in Turkey "de facto and de jure" there is no one to even talk to about this topic in view of the absence of "Biblio Globus" as such on the Turkish market. In addition, this tour operator specializes primarily in sending tourists, not receiving them. They have their own full-fledged DMC, perhaps, only in Cyprus. Therefore, if “Biblio Globus” suddenly opened the topic of corporate transactions with us, then we could talk primarily only about our sending offices in the Baltic countries, Belarus, Ukraine, and not the receiving office in Turkey or other countries.
TT: There are indeed many legends, but your very clear and frank answers put a lot of things in their place. We would like to take this opportunity to ask you to comment on TEZ TOUR's cooperation with Crystal Hotels, which has also been overgrown with various guesses.
A. S.: We have been cooperating with the Crystal hotel chain for a long time and are very glad that we have developed such good commercial and friendly relations. At one time, we exclusively sold these hotels in our markets. A little later, the group's hotel chain expanded and it also began to work with the Odeon Group. This year, the Crystal chain began to cooperate with Time Services on exclusive terms, and TEZ TOUR, like the Odeon Group, naturally stopped the sale of these hotels. However, by the middle of summer it became clear that Biblio Globus could not fulfill its obligations in full and load the required number of rooms in the chain's hotels. Based on long-term and almost “family” relationships in business, TEZ TOUR came to the aid of its old friends and partners, providing the necessary load for 5 hotels of the Crystal group. We completed our task, and both parties were satisfied with this project. But at the moment there has been no talk of any further, closer cooperation with Crystal hotels.
TT: It is not surprising that in light of the recent withdrawals from the tourism market of quite large and well-known companies, special attention is riveted to the work of TEZ TOUR. How much does this talk about selling the Company affect you and your employees?
A. S.: I'll tell you straight. I am sure that the purpose of these conversations is to prevent us from fully working. I agree that the work of TEZ TOUR, as one of the largest players in the tourism market, cannot but attract attention and do without various rumors. But in fact, at the moment, such rumors do not have the slightest foundation. Of course, I will not dissemble and say that such an artificially created information field does not bother us at all. But many years of work in this business have made me and most of our employees quite mentally and stress-resistant. We sincerely do not want to waste time and energy on this gossip, thinking about how to fully and efficiently do our daily work. But at the same time, I will note that with the further escalation of the situation and the creation of an artificial unhealthy information field, we do not exclude professional legal steps on our part at any level.
TT: One of the most interested partners in obtaining reliable first-hand information is, of course, representatives of the hotel business. What is the most important thing, in your opinion, they need to know about TEZ TOUR plans for the near future?
A. S.: I can tell all Turkish partners the following: if we decide to sell part of the business, then we will not conduct endless behind-the-scenes negotiations, since we clearly imagine an ideal partner. The best buyers of some of the assets of TEZ TOUR for us can be our partners - the owners of the hotel business. In case of serious consideration of the possibility of selling a certain percentage of the shares of TEZ TOUR, we would like to see as our business partners only hotels with which we have been working well for a long time, for example, 20-30 of the most interesting and serious of them. Only this option would be beneficial for TEZ TOUR and, in turn, would give additional development to hotels. Summarizing this topic, I repeat - in case of any possible sale of part of the Company's assets, we will initially negotiate with hoteliers, and not with Ani Tur and others.
TT: What is the general situation and forecasts of the work of the leading tour operators in the Russian market in connection with a noticeable decrease in the number of tourists this year?
A. S.: If we objectively talk about our main markets - Russia and Ukraine - then, indeed, this year the situation is not developing in the best way, since by August all market participants felt a drop in demand. The overall tourist flow, especially in Russia, has not changed so much, but due to strong dumping and an active decline in retail prices, we can state a decrease in money turnover.
At the same time, I want to note that, in my experience and deep conviction, optimists work in tourism. And I am definitely one of them. I want to believe that geopolitical conflicts will be settled in the near future. But with all the optimism that exists, it is worth recognizing that the realities of next year may turn out to be worse than this year. If large tour operators do not understand this trend in time and do not react to the changing situation, then the prospects for these two markets will not be very bright. Because in our business there may come a time when the price, even the lowest, ceases to matter - everything will be decided literally by the absence of customer demand.
Information for the media
Finally, I have a very important message for the local press. From my point of view, tourism for Turkey is the most important sector of the economy. It supports the country's leading industrial and agricultural sectors - construction, livestock, textiles and others. At the same time, tourism is one of the most delicate and sensitive areas of business, which depends not only on real economic indicators, but also on fictional rumors and speculation. In order to inflict a tangible blow on this sector of the economy, you do not need to detonate a bomb in the literal sense of the word. It is enough to say the word “bomb” loudly or, even worse, at the level of unconfirmed rumors, and the wave that strikes tourism will roll by itself. A journalist, of course, must have a share of responsibility and a meaningful civil position. And each time, giving out a new "sensation", remember that behind each of his unverified words or unreasonable rumors in the media are the fate of hundreds of thousands of people, directly or indirectly working in the tourism sector.
