All the Russian tourists who were stranded in Bulgaria because of the September 9 decision by Bulgaria Air to cancel tickets booked by Alma Tour because of unpaid debt by the company to the airline have returned home, Bulgarian-language media said on September 15 2011.

However, the Russian federal agency for tourism said that it was fortunate that there had been a solution, but it had to be remembered that there were a further 900 Russian tourists who had been booked on flights scheduled for later in September.

"We strongly hope that by the end of September, all visitors scheduled to leave will be out of the country," the Russian federal tourism agency said.

The Bulgaria Air - Alma Tour dispute prompted Bulgaria's Government to intervene to attempt to resolve the dispute. The Bulgarian Government helped in getting the tourists home, as did other tourism industry bodies, while Bulgarian hoteliers provided accommodation and food.

The saga has had prominent coverage in the media in Russia and other countries, among them Finland, whose citizens were affected by the dispute.

The saga took on a political dimension when the socialist party-dominated Coalition for Bulgaria, the largest opposition group in Parliament, called for the resignations of Economy Minister Traicho Traikov and his deputy Ivo Marinov.

Speaking in Parliament on September 15, Traikov hit out at what he called an "aggressive campaign against Bulgarian tourism" and said that he could not swallow the cheap politicking by the socialists.

Traikov, who earlier sharply criticised the parties to the dispute and warned that they could face penalties, to Parliament that the Russian tourists had signed contracts with Russian companies and should have protection under Russian legislation.

The tour operator with which the tourists had signed contracts in their country had to fulfill all clauses in those contracts. That was what the Finnish operator had done, but the Russian one had not, he said.

He said that the Government considered the situation extremely unpleasant, especially given that this year had seen a large increase in the number of Russian tourists visiting Bulgaria.