In 9 years the capital wants twice as many guests
Almost 7 million tourists in 2016 (half of them from distant foreign countries), the status of the leading tourist destination in 2018 and, finally, the doubling of the tourist flow in 2020. All this is a milestone in the strategic plan for the development of tourism in the capital, recently approved by the Moscow government. The plan is ambitious, but quite real, according to the chairman of the Committee on Tourism and Hotel Management of Moscow Sergey Shpilko.
The draft program on the development of tourism in Moscow promises that in 2016 the capital will host a total of 6.8 million tourists. Are not your plans too bold?
No, it's quite real. Annually about 4 million foreigners arrive via Moscow airports. Approximately the same number stops in hotels. Coming by bus and rail to this figure does not include. That is, the real number of guests in the Russian capital is much higher than official statistics show.
It should be borne in mind that in accordance with the Law of the Russian Federation "On the Basics of Tourist Activities", a tourist is a person who has temporarily moved in for more than 24 hours or with an overnight stay, but less than half a year with cultural, cognitive, cultural, sports, business, religious and other purposes, not receiving income from local sources. In other words, almost all who come to Moscow, except labor migrants, refugees and illegal immigrants can be considered tourists.
Another thing is that the figure of 4, or even 5-6 million foreign tourists for a city like Moscow - to put it mildly, a small one, and over its increase still work and work.
Tourism - the sphere of market relations, it can not be developed only as a social project, the city has the right to rely on returns, including in the form of relevant tax revenues to the budget .I am sure that Moscow has every chance to enter the top ten largest cities in the world with significant revenues from tourism .However, today we do not have objective statistics not only about the number of tourists in Moscow, but also about how much they spend, how much the city earns on tourism .Even the development of methods necessary for the corresponding calculations is a separate, complex task, not to mention collecting information itself and assessing the multiplier effect of tourism development .It is not only about improving statistics in terms of tourist flows and finance, but also data on investment, employment, movement of fixed assets .While revenues from the tourist business are mainly accounted for by tax revenues from hotels, most of which fall into the federal budget .
We had a fruitful meeting with the leadership of the Ministry of Sport and Tourism and Rostourism, which talked about how to combine efforts to develop methods for assessing the performance of tourism. If this can be done in Moscow, Rosturizm will be able to extend the experience to other regions.
What do you think should be done first?
At this stage - "pull up" the level of development of cultural and educational tourism .Now Moscow is the Russian capital of two types of tourism - business and river cruise .This does not mean that, for example, with the development of the MICE industry there is no problem .There are not enough modern congress areas, visa regime is hindered and t .e .But the average level of loading hotels in high business season (in autumn and spring) is about 60% .And in the summer, on New Year holidays, it drops to 40%, and even below .That is, hotels are idle during the high season of travel with the purpose of recreation and entertainment .Hence the task of increasing mass recreational tourist flows, which can not be done without the popularization of Moscow as a tourist destination .In other words, this is a scheme for promoting the city as a tourist center: "increasing demand for travel - an increase in supply" .
Meanwhile, Moscow is consistently in the lead in all sorts of ratings of high-priced hotels. Yes, and budget accommodation facilities in the capital, a clear lack.
With these ratings, not everything is so unambiguous. They are composed mainly at a price "from the rack" of business-class hotels. And it is necessary to calculate by actual sales and differentiate by star rating.
In the summer, for example, many hotels 4-5 * accept tour groups through tour operators .At the same time, the cost of a city without taking into account the price of the air ticket varies from $ 100 to 100 EUR, including meals, excursions, transfer .That is, the ratio of "price / quality" in Moscow itself for a tourist in such a package - it's better not to think up .As for summer prices in budget hotels of tourist class, on average, according to the relevant monitoring, they are about 2000 rubles, although you can find the number and per thousand .And in hostels the price starts from 500 rubles, so the high cost of Moscow hotels, at least in the high season of group tourism is a myth with which it's time to part .
Another myth is the low level of hotel service. In Moscow today, an absolute majority of the world's hotel brands are represented, and their presence is expanding in the management segment of three-star hotels, for example, the Best Western network recently appeared on the Moscow market. As you know, service management in network hotels is carried out according to uniform quality standards, which is in Moscow, that in New York, that in Kuala Lumpur.
Another thing is that most business-class hotels are built or renovated in the last two decades. And most economy-class hotels opened in Soviet times and need reconstruction. For example, the issue of their conditioning is acute. So in this sense the problem does exist, but investors' interest in this category of accommodation facilities is also growing.
As for economy-class hotels, they really do not have enough in Moscow, but the real picture is better than the statistical one. According to official statistics, there are 215 hotels and other accommodation facilities in Moscow, and even preliminary analysis showed that there are significantly more than 300 of them. Over the board of statistical accounting are mostly budget accommodation - hostels, mini-hotels, and hotels built into shopping, entertainment, sports complexes and, as a rule, are on their balance sheet. That is, as a rule, the same budget places.
In May, we debunk another myth - that in Moscow hostels one-two and obchelsya. At that time, there were 45 of them for 2,300 seats, the overwhelming majority of them in the center of the city. Since then, more than a dozen have been opened. The next one opens on Sadovo-Kudrinskaya street, a few minutes walk from Mayakovsky Square.
The issue of construction of new hotels is primarily a matter of finding new sites and buildings for reconstruction, improving the investment climate, which the Moscow City Government is now actively working on .We have several interesting projects in the committee to create hotel chains of economy class, including modular, fast-growing hotels, as well as hotels with a very comfortable number of rooms and a minimum of infrastructure that have proven themselves in Scandinavia .Our committee "transfers" these and other projects to the town-planning complex of the city, where the Moscow City Committee for Investments is already working with investors to ensure the implementation of investment projects in construction and control in the field of shared construction .In the immediate competence of our committee is the strategy for developing the hotel industry of the capital and working with existing hotels .
Let's talk about "internal competitors" of Moscow as a tourist destination, first of all - about St. Petersburg. It is believed that in terms of attractions it is much more interesting than the capital.
Peter used to be a more attractive city in the excursion .In recent years, it has made a qualitative leap in the process of its formation as a tourist destination, in part thanks to the dynamic development of sea cruises .Moscow, by and large, is also ripe for such a transformation .The first echelon of the show's objects is expanding, including the Moscow metro, the park complex of the Kolomenskoye museum-reserve, the Stalin's Bunker in Taganka, many interesting new museums have appeared, and the existing exhibits are renewed .Updated excursion programs, event series .The "Shrovetide Maslenitsa" format is changing, the Festival of military-orchestra "Spasskaya Tower" is gaining popularity .In the beginning of September we hold the first major Festival of military historical reconstructions, this is one of the few vacant niches in the global event market .In October the city will host the Festival of Light .In general, much is being done to breathe new life into the hospitality industry of the capital .Including from the point of view of creating conditions familiar to tourists in other world cities: it is a modern orientation system for tourists in the city, a city tourist Internet portal, tourist information centers, a call center and t .e ., up to the toilet .Each of these tasks, it would seem, is simple, but, taking into account the competitive procedures for the 94th Federal Law and the creation of an appropriate regulatory framework, a year or two will be required .
In general, much is being done, but this is not enough. In fact, we are just starting to rebrand the city as a tourist center.
Obviously, in order to carry out the tasks set, the Tourism Committee simply has to be in close cooperation with other committees of the Moscow Government.
We work with many structural units of the Moscow Government - with urban planning and transport complexes, with the Departments of the media and advertising, social protection of the population, culture, education. Relations with Minsportturizm, Rosturizm, Ministry of Regional Development - in general, with all agencies related to tourism at the city and federal level are organized in an organized manner.
We do not put sticks in the wheel yet .Another thing is that the implementation of any project requires long procedures for coordination, issuance of administrative documents .Take, it would seem, not the most difficult question - the organization of parking for tourist buses .For twenty years buses stop in the same places, groups of tourists are landed, and drivers are fined .The mayor gave a clear instruction: the issue was solved .Tourist business identified the places where it is necessary to organize stops and parking lots in the first place .We wanted to manage for the season, the Department of Transport and Development of the road and transport infrastructure together with us took up work, but the process of agreeing with various instances, the issue of developing and approving schemes took several months .And it is still necessary to develop technical requirements for balance holders, conduct competitive procedures, marking out and posting signs ... That is, whatever one may say, and if acting under the law - a few more months of work .
Moscow is a big and complex city. The rate is primarily made to solve large-scale logistics problems, which are relevant not only for visitors, but also for the Muscovites themselves - complex development, housing and communal services, and park economy. With regard to returns, trade, transport, industry and the financial sector bring more revenue to the city treasury than the tourism industry. Therefore, it is unrealistic to expect that the Moscow City Government will postpone everything and focus on the development of tourism.
Accordingly, in the development of recreation and tourism, the center of gravity is the development of urban recreational facilities, including parks, arrangement of yards, cultural institutions, sports and t .e .At the same time, the topic of hotel construction largely goes to the city program "Housing" .Money for the development of tourism proper, not including investment, is allocated, maybe, and less than we would like - for this year about 270 million .rubles .But, before claiming more, it is necessary to ensure the effective use of the already allocated funds .And this is for our small committee, which is now also attached to the hotel industry and in which the reorganization has not yet ended - the task is not easy .We will solve it together with the capital tourist industry and the hotel industry .Experience in the Russian Union of the Travel Industry and government agencies at the federal level is of great help to me here .And, returning to the city's state programs: a total of 17, and all of them directly or indirectly work on the development of tourism .