Several hoteliers expect to make a big profit from the upcoming FIFA World Cup in Russia. 41 Russian hotels that have been charging much more than the usual amount per room have been identified and black-listed by the country’s federal tourism industry body.
The list includes hotels in Volgograd, Moscow, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, Kaliningrad and Krasnodar. The most “active” in this sense was the city of Rostov, where there were 14 cases of overpricing.
Cases of Drastic Price Increase
Some of the Russian hotels increased their prices in a very drastic manner. For example, the “Agora” hotel in Kaliningrad increased the room price by more than 5000%. The commonly maximum price per night, as regulated by the government, is set at 2,400 rubles (about EUR 34). However, here it reaches about 127,000 rubles (about EUR 1817) during the championship.
Another example of price increases in Kaliningrad is the “Orangevy Dom”. This hotel has increased prices by more than 1000%, while a guesthouse called “Tikhie Sady” in Rostov-on-Don had an increase of about 2,500%.
Government to Fine the Hoteliers
The government’s regulation of room prices in host cities was ordered in 2016 by Prime Minister Medvedev. The owners of hotels that have violated these regulations will be fined.
Moreover, Rospotrebnadzor has launched a hotline for costumers to complain about rises in prices during the World Cup on January 22. It will be active until the end of the championship.
According to OneTwoTrip, rooms are running out in host cities for the World Cup. After an analysis, the website has come to a conclusion that Saransk and Volgograd are fully out of free rooms, while in five other cities the share of facilities available is less than 10% of their number in the non-peak times. The World Cup will take place in 11 Russian cities and is set to start on June 14 and end on July 15 this year.