The dispute between the West and Russia over Ukraine has led to a difficult situation in the northern metropolis of Russia, Sankt Petersburg. The problem is with tourism, as foreigners have begun to avoid the hotels in the area. The occupancy rate of these hotels has dropped twenty percent last year because of this reason.
At the end of the tourist season, the newspaper Delovoi Peterburg has received information from a five-star hotel called Grand Hotel Europe about the yearly occupancy of this hotel. The results were negative, as the occupancy dropped 10 percent every year. The situation is even worse for three-star hotels from the suburbs: a 40 percent occupancy drop. In this case, the newspaper got the information from the head of the capital's association of small hotels, Vladimir Vasiliyev.
There is also a problem with low-cost hostels. According to the head of a hostel chain, there was a drop in occupancy by 10 percent. The revenues of the hotels in the area have been lower by 20 percent. This is a result of the fewer tourists. It seems that foreigners are the cause of these problems. This is what the regional branch of the tourism industry in Russia has found. The union has estimated that there were 20 percent fewer foreign visitors in the city this year, compared to last year.
Cancellations of hotel stays increased just after the winter. This was the exact time when Russia has taken Crimea from the Ukraine, an action that has caused disturbance in the West. Yunis Teimurkhanly, a co-owner of the four-star hotel Helvetia from Sankt Petersburg, has declared that the situation should have come back to normal, but it got worse instead. American and Australian tourists have just vanished.