MOSCOW, May 23 - RIA Novosti. The Ministry of Culture sent a letter to Rostourism with the instruction "to consider a proposal to ban the activities of Booking.com" in Russia, RBC reported.

"We consider it necessary to seek the opinion of the relevant professional public associations on the proposal, in connection with which they will be promptly sent an online request," the representative of Rosturizm cites the media.

According to the publication, the assignment was given by the Department of Tourism and Regional Policy of the Ministry of Culture.

Not the first sentence

Earlier in April, to prohibit Booking.com in response to US sanctions, proposed the head of a large tour operator for domestic and incoming tourism, "Own TS" Sergei Voitovich.

He wrote an open letter to the Ministry of Culture of Russia "on considering the possibility of including in the package of counter-sanctions (restrictive measures) Booking Holdings (aggregator of hotel rooms Booking.com)."

"For many Russian hotels, the Booking.com channel remains the only site, so the lion's share of individual bookings - more than 70% - is controlled by the American corporation in Russian hotels, which is able to store and analyze tourist data," Voitovich wrote.

At the same time, he stated that "there are cases when the service violates the rights of consumers and, without having a tourist license in Russia, allows themselves not to react to the controlling bodies of Rospotrebnadzor."

Complaints about the resource

By Booking.com already had claims in Russia. So, earlier with a complaint to the Federal Antimonopoly Service, the Russian travel agency, as well as the chairman of the expert council for tourism under the committee of the Council of Federation on social policy, Igor Fomin, applied.

The essence of the complaints was that Booking.com forbids Russian hotels to put lower prices in other sales channels. Accordingly, the service draws on itself a significant market share. The administrative burden on it is minimal, but it charges a high commission from the placement facilities.

In the end, the FAS did not find any violations in the activity of the reservation service, since it did not establish the fact of the dominant position of Booking.com on the market.

Response to the proposal of the Ministry of Culture

In the Russian Union of Travel Industry (RTS), they doubt that the resource will be blocked, but they believe that it should work in a uniform legal framework with Russian tour operators.

"I know that the business has questions to Booking.com It turns out that the rules are different in one market glade," commented the vice-president of RTS Olga Sanayeva.

Service Booking.com provides services for booking hotels, accommodations and car rentals in 228 countries and territories around the world.