In October, the leading tour operator in the Baltic States Novaturas Group operated flights to Cyprus and Crete in all markets. Novaturas Group turnover in 2020 October reached EUR 1.9 million and was 91% lower than the same time last year. Cumulative January-October turnover reached EUR 32.3 million and was 80% lower than the corresponding time last year. In October, Novaturas Group served 3.3 thousand clients – 90% less than in the corresponding period last year. During January-September the Company served 47.4 thousand tourists, 82% lower than last year.
According to the Company, up to date holiday planning trends remain unchanged – the travelers are buying trips last minute or they are planning next year’s holidays. "We understand that constantly changing restrictions, safety requirements and the risk of the virus make future trips planning challenging. Adapting to these circumstances, we are offering our travelers additional services that make holiday planning more confident. In November, we have launched new “COVID PAUSE” service, that allows travelers to postpone the trip if positive COVID-19 test is confirmed before the trip”, says Audronė Keinytė, the head of the Novaturas group.
The constraints caused by the COVID-19 virus have highlighted the attractiveness and need for local tourism around the whole world. „Our pilot local tourism project has started this summer and we see great potential in it, so we will continue to focus on its development in the Baltics,” says A. Keinytė. The Company has agreed on EUR 35 thousand support under the MITA program “Tourism Innovation in Travel Business” and will allocate part of it to the development of innovative activities.
“Novaturas” group continues optimization processes of the organizational structure. As of the 9th of November 2020, “Novatours” OÜ sales manager Ann Tiedemann is responsible for the organization of the Estonian office activities. The management of the subsidiary will be continued by the Board, which members are AB “Novaturas” CFO Tomas Staškūnas (member of the Board since 2010) and AB “Novaturas” CEO Audronė Keinytė (member of the subsidiary Board since 2019). The Board’s main focus remains on the Company’s rapid recovery from the crisis caused by the pandemic and further strengthening its position in the markets.
In October Novaturas Group has agreed with Luminor bank (AB Luminor) to delay payments of a long-term loan and extend the overdraft. The start of partial payments of the long-term loan is postponed for 5 months until the end of March. The overdraft is also extended until the 31st of March 2021.
About Novaturas Group
AB Novaturas Group is the largest tour operator in the Baltic States, offering summer and winter package holidays in more than 30 destinations worldwide and more than 100 sightseeing routes. In 2019, the group served more than 293 thousand customers.