Owners of domestic hotels wanted to earn more in the Russians participating in business forums, and asked the Government to abandon the practice of regulating prices for the time of such events, writes RBC.
Tourist business representatives wrote an appeal to Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustina. Under it is the signatures of the head of the Russian Union of the tourism industry Andrei Ignatiev, Chairman of the “Business Russia” Alexey Repeika, Head of the Russian Hotel Association Gennady Laminzy and other specialized organizations.
The authors criticized the bill on the regulation of prices for accommodation in hotels during specially significant international events developed by the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS). The document involves the introduction of the marginal cost of the placement, which will be calculated on the special method of FAS and the Ministry of Economic Development.
The agency argues that many hotels will unreasonably increase prices on the eve of events like the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (PMEF), which increases the costs of guests and “carries unwanted reputation risks.”
The representatives of the industry in turn indicate that the FAS initiative “contradicts the market nature of the hospitality industry and the world’s generally accepted practitioners in the world.” They also note that the introduction of state regulation is extremely untimely in the context of restrictions due to coronavirus pandemic, from which the hotel business suffers.
The current legislation provides for the possibility of establishing maximum prices for products or services of natural monopolies, however, the hotel business is not included in their number.