The closure of hostels in apartment buildings could lead to higher hotel prices across Russia, which could subsequently reduce demand for tour operator services, according to Maya, Executive Director of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR). Lomidze.
"Tour operators generally don't work with hostels. However, the closure of small accommodations, including hostels, will definitely lead to higher prices in regular hotels, especially in St. Petersburg. This will impact tour operator prices, which could subsequently impact demand," she noted, according to Interfax.
She also added that the closure of hostels could lead to a shortage of hotels.
"Independent tourists, who previously often chose hostels, will now also be forced to stay in hotels. This reduces competition among hotels, which is not good at all. The motivation for this law remains unclear to me," said Maya Lomidze.
As a reminder, the State Duma passed a law banning hostels from being located in apartment buildings. In other words, using apartments as hostels and offering hotel services there is prohibited.
A little later, on April 10, the Federation Council, as amended by the conciliation commission, approved a law banning hostels in apartment buildings, which will come into force on October 1, 2019.
Source: trn-news.ru