MOSCOW, September 6 (Itar-Tass) —— Moscow remains the city of the world’s highest hotel fees. It is again ahead of Geneva, Zurich and Paris, the Association of Russian Tour Operators said with the reference to data from Hogg Robinson Group.
An average daily fee of Moscow hotels neared 300 euros in the first half of this year. That is 1% more than in 2010. Experts explain the growing hotel fees with the construction of new hotels, which testifies to the Moscow role of a business center.
Notably, hotel prices in Moscow declined by 12% last year as compared with 2009.
Other cities in the world’s top ten are Stockholm, Washington DC, Sydney, Istanbul, New York and Oslo, the Association said.
Nearly three million foreigners visited Moscow in the first half of this year, head of the city tourism and hospitality committee Sergei Shpilko said.
He said the rate increased by 11.5% since last year. “The occupancy of Moscow hotels grew by 7-8% this summer,” the official added.
“The city tourism and hospitality committee and tour operators are forming a new tourist product and developing event tourism in Moscow,” he said. “The rivalry on the world market of event tourism has tightened recently. Moscow may compete with many cities and countries popular with tourists.”
Russia plays host to numerous events, such as the MAKS aerospace show, the Spasskaya Bashnya festival and the festival of military history clubs. “These events should be adapted for foreign tourists,” Shpilko said.
“Moscow is gaining its score as a host of large sport events. We expect the tourist flow to grow to 6-7 million by the 2018 World Cup,” he said.
Shpilko forecasted a growth of foreign tourists in Moscow to 4.3 million this year.
The number of foreign tourists in Russia grew in the first half of the year, the Association of Russian Tour Operators said. Some 11.5 million citizens of 212 states visited Russia in that period, which was 14% more than last year. Only 7% of the foreign visitors were tourists, the Association said.