This touristic season is already facing serious challenges. Some people even cancel their well-planned vacations panicking over the news report.
Let’s try to find out, what is the situation with Coronavirus in Russia and is it reasonable to travel to Russia this summer.
Russia will begin re-opening its borders to foreign nationals, starting with foreigners who need to come to Russia for medical treatment or to take care of their relatives. The situation with classic tourism is not yet clear.
Currently, the most critical situation has developed for economy class hotels and hostels, which do not have stars at all, or belong to the category 1-2*. The implementation of all Rospotrebnadzor (Federal Service on Surveillance for Consumer rights protection and human well-being) “recommendations” is beyond their power. In particular, Rospotrebnadzor prescribes:
- accommodation in the room no more than one person or family;
- a ban for vacationers to leave the hotels’ area;
- beaches should be opened in compliance with the list of security measures. In particular, sunbeds should be located at a distance of one and a half meters from each other;
- no more than one person or family should be at the table in the restaurant;
- accommodation of vacationers is allowed only with a certificate of absence of infection;
- upon detection of a coronovirus in the hotel, the hotel must be closed for 14-day strict quarantine for all vacationers;
- each room should have an individual bathroom;
- the test of hotel staff for coronavirus is mandatory;
- cleaning and disinfection of rooms, providing hotel’s staff with antiseptics, masks and gloves.
These recommendations make the work of many hotels and hostels unprofitable. So, for instance, the owner will need to invest additionally about 11 000 Euros in a small 3* hotel with 30 rooms, despite the fact that in the season its monthly turnover is from 33 000 to 39 000 Euros.
