Labor inspectors in Bucharest have conducted on Saturday, March 15, a series of controls at the Tourism Fair organized at Romexpo, in Bucharest, reports local news agency Mediafax.

Labor inspectors verified, among others, if the companies’ representatives at the fair were employed with labor contracts.

The controls also targeted overtime pay, namely if the staff representing exhibitors were also paid for working during the weekend, sources among exhibitors told Mediafax.

The results of the inspections should be made public this week.

On the other side of the fence, tourism employers didn’t agree with the control during the Tourism Fair, claiming that labor inspectors made exhibitors look like tax evaders in the eyes of customers who came to book holidays.

“We at the National Association of Travel Agencies (ANAT, totally agree with the Labor Inspection to conduct controls, but not on a Saturday when the fair is full of visitors, and inspectors sit in front of the travel agents who want to serve their customers,” said Lucia Morariu, president of ANAT, quoted by Mediafax.

She added that she doesn’t believe that such controls are the solution to tax evasion. According to her, such actions leave the impression that travel agents are tax evaders.

The vice-president of the Romanian Tourism Employers Federation (FPTR), Dragos Raducan, also said that he finds it unusual for a control to be conducted during the fair, considering that the event is held under the patronage of a state institution - the National Tourism Authority, reports Mediafax.

Romania’s Tourism Fair was organized at Romexpo in Bucharest between March 13 and March 16.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com

(photo source: targuldeturism.ro)