MOSCOW, February 16. / TASS /. About 2 million tourists visited Moscow during the New Year holidays this year, despite the restrictive measures introduced due to the coronavirus pandemic, the city mayor Sergei Sobyanin wrote in his blog on Tuesday.
"The results of the New Year's holidays in 2021 inspire some optimism. Without the famous street festivals, with closed museums and restaurants not working in the evenings, 1.9 million guests arrived in Moscow. Average occupancy of hotels has risen to 25-30%, and popular inexpensive hotels in the center "3-4 stars" were even at 50-60% occupancy. The tourism industry is starting to come back and I am confident that 2021 will bring it good luck," Sobyanin said.
Sobyanin noted that during the pandemic, hotels were in the most difficult situation both in paying salaries to large teams, and in paying utility bills "even when 90% of the rooms are empty." In addition, new costs have appeared - for disinfection and sanitation. "In these conditions, the program of temporary resettlement of doctors and nurses from coronavirus hospitals has become a serious help to hotels. In the spring and autumn of 2020, more than 9,000 medical workers temporarily moved to hotels, reducing the risk of infection for their families. About 42 largest city hotels took part in the program and 46 hotels received subsidies for disinfection of premises," he said.
Also, to support the tourism industry, the city authorities launched the Russpass service, a digital travel designer, with which you can choose a route, book a hotel and buy tickets. The cultural and tourist atlas "# Moskvastoby" (Moscow with you) was opened with video tours, lectures and virtual walks around the capital. An educational tourism project "City of Discovery" has been launched for children. "But the most important help for the tourism industry was the ability to work even in the most difficult months of the pandemic. We did not make decisions on temporary hotel closure," Sobyanin said.