Following the bankruptcy of Labirint, one of Russia’s leading tour operators, as many as 27,000 Russians tourists were left stranded in Greece. The Greek Tourism Ministry and the Greek National Tourism Organization were working closely with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Russian tourism authorities and Greek tourism industry bodies on the matter. It is estimated that between 8,000 and 10,000 Russians were stuck on Greek islands. The country’s Tourism Ministry said, in a statement: “Greece is a safe and welcoming tourist destination that respects its guests.” Tour operators, some of whom are among the nation’s oldest, say they have experienced an unprecedented slump in demand, which they blame on the bad political climate and the depreciation of the ruble, which has lost up to 10% against the dollar since January. The closure of one tour operator alone, Labirint, has left more than 20,000 people abroad without a return ticket and affected another 40,000 who had already bought travel packages, tourism officials said. Russia’s Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) has threatened to name hotels that had “mishandled” the situation as some tourists were reportedly evicted from hotels, while others were apparently refused entry after Labirint’s bankruptcy was announced. Labirint announced it was stopping operations on Saturday and that Turpomoshch (Tour Help) would attempt to help passengers that were stuck. Similar situations seem to have affected Russian tourists in Turkey, Egypt, Spain, Bulgaria and Cyprus.