Latvia, Lithuania, Markets and Companies, Tourism

According to the statement, Travel RSP trips are offered by Lithuania's travel agency Kodel Gi Ne LT, which is aware that the Latvian firm is not certified to operate in Lithuania, nevertheless, admits that the department cannot apply sanctions against the Latvian firm. Kodel Gi Ne LT says it sells Travel RSP trips and has no intentions of giving up the operations.

Gerda Butkuviene, spokeswoman for the State Tourism Department, says the department does not call for cancellation of the Travel RSP trips that have already been bought but warns people still planning to purchase trips.

"Those who already have the trips should proceed and go, and everything may work out fine. We just want them to know that, if something happens, nobody in Lithuania will be able to help them, s the organizer is founded in Latvia. All clarification and, in the worst-case scenario, litigation will be with Latvian institutions," Butkuviene told.

Vaida Tamuliene, CEO of Kodel Gi Ne LT, says the company sells trips of a few Latvian travel operators, including Travel RSP, and has no plans of terminating the operations.

"We work with a few Latvian agencies, with departures from Riga. We can sell trips of Czech and other companies. We have discussed this with the Tourism Department, gave them links to the Travel RSP website that clearly specifies that the trips are organized from Riga," Tamuliene told.

According to the department, a trip of a specific tourist starts in Lithuania, regardless of where other members of the group start their journey, it can be done by the travel organizer only with a certificate from the department or listed as a temporary provider of services in Lithuania.

Tadas Zentelis, the head of the department's Division for Supervision of Tourism Operations, told BNS that the operations of Travel RSP runs counter to the Tourism Law, but the company cannot be subjected to sanctions, however, they can be brought against Kodel Gi Ne LT.