Notes that follow the text. These days the motto among the hundreds of travel agencies that have sprouted throughout Russia over the past decade is 'travellers' freedom of choice'

These days the motto among the hundreds of travel agencies that have sprouted throughout Russia over the past decade is 'travellers' freedom of choice'. But this is a relatively new phenomenon, and a radical change from what the tourism industry looked like in Soviet times, when there were only three tour operators in the country, each targeting its own group of customers.

Intourist, the oldest and the biggest among them, had a monopoly on bringing foreign tourists to Russia.

Sputnik, a youth tourism bureau, established by the Komsomol, worked for the most part with young travellers.

The Central Council on Tourism and Excursions arranged trips for members of trade unions.

Last year Intourist celebrated its 70^th anniversary. This tour operator was the first thin chink in the 'iron curtain' that made it possible for foreign visitors to see what was happening in the USSR, even if they were allowed to see only what authorities wanted to show them.

Foreign tourists, businessmen, politicians or correspondents had no chance but to arrange their trips to the Soviet Union through Intourist, and had to accept the company's rules. A lack of competitors turned Intourist into a powerful organization that employed thousands of people and owned a chain of the best hotels throughout the country. In some years, up to 6 million travellers came to Russia through Intourist.

The Central Council on Tourism and Excursions and Sputnik could compete with Intourist in terms of the number of trips abroad or inside the country, but in term of hosting foreign travellers Intourist was in a league of its own.

With the creation of market economy in Russia, the state's monopoly on tourism was destroyed, and Intourist was forced to

change its commercial policy. In 1992, Intourist, which had previously been a state joint stock company, was withdrawn from the state structure and became a private firm.

Now among its leading shareholders are Sistema, GAO Moskva, a city agency that monitors foreign tourism in Moscow, the ROSNO insurance company and Glav UpDK, or the Main Administration for the diplomatic Corps under the Foreign Ministry.

The disintegration of the USSR, and the subsequent political instability and general impoverishment of the countries population, narrowed the number of services Intourist could offer, and made it necessary for the firm to cut its staff. By 1999, the bureau's entire staff totaled only 500 employees.

The number of foreign tourists who choose Intourist to arrange their trips has dropped to a tenth of what it was. Now the company handles an average of 200, 000 foreign guests to Russia per year.

Sputnik, the second-oldest Russian tour operator, was founded over 40 years ago by the Sixth World Festival of Youth and Students, which was held in Moscow in 1957. During Soviet times, Sputnik's main activity was arranging youth festivals, scientific seminars and student and cultural exchanges in Russia and abroad. About 80% of its clients received discounted or free tours, and only the remaining 20% were commercial contracts. In the early 1990s, Sputnik tx a private joint stock company. Now it has over 350 shareholders, including Vneshintorg, a foreign trade firm, the Komsomolskaya Pravda and Yug, a firm working in the agricultural industry.

Sputnik now has 65 branches in Russia and owns 10 hotels and tourist centers in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Azerbaijan. The company's central office in Moscow, which once numbered 350 employees, currently has 45 employees. Now Sputnik handles from 25, 000 to 30, 000 foreign travellers per year. Before 1990, this tour operator worked with around 270, 000 foreign tourists. However, as far as sending Russian tourists abroad, by 1998 Sputnik had managed to regain its pre-1990 level of about 200, 000 people.

The Moscow Times, March 5, 2000