Russian aggression deters tourists

Russian aggression in Ukraine is putting thousands of tourists off visiting the country, with hoteliers in St Petersburg – one of the biggest lures for travellers – reporting a sharp fall in demand.

Vladimir Vasiliyev, the head of the city’s association of small hotels, told the newspaper Delovoi Peterburg that budget accommodation had been hardest hit, with occupancy rates in three-star hotels down 40 per cent year-on-year. Hostels are also having trouble filling beds, he said.

St Petersburg’s high-end hotels are also suffering, if slightly less so. The five-star Grand Hotel Europe told the newspaper that bookings are down 10 per cent on 2013’s figures.

The fall in demand has contributed to a total drop of 20 per cent in hotel revenue across the entire city, Mr Vasiliyev said.

A spokesman for Russia’s tourism industry union said it was foreign visitors that are steering clear. In 2014, “20 per cent fewer foreign visitors came to St. Petersburg than last year," the union estimated.

According to Yunis Teimurkhanly, who co-owns the four-star Helvetia hotel in St. Petersburg, a rush of cancellations accompanied the annexation of Crimea, back in March. "We expected the situation to bounce back, but in August when new sanctions were imposed it just got worse,” he said. “English-speaking tourists from the US and Australia have disappeared."

A spokesman for Cox and Kings, the British tour operator, confirmed that it had seen a fall in bookings for Russian breaks during spring, but said that demand had picked up somewhat in recent months.

Andrea Godfrey of Regent Holidays said inquiries for Russian were down 55 per cent since April, but claimed that actual bookings had not been affected.

"Having just returned from Russia, I found that everything is business as normal," she said. "The welcome we received from Russians was also warm." She added that the current strength of the pound against the rouble should encourage British visitors.

Russia receives approximately 25 million overseas visitors each year, according to the most recent figures, including around 127,000 from Britain. The Foreign Office currently advises those heading there to avoid all travel within 10km of the border with the Ukrainian Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts, and all but essential travel to within 10km of the Ukrainian Kharkiv Oblast.

See www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/russia for full details.

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