Some foreigners still think bears walk the streets in Moscow and that the crime rate is as high as it was in the 1990s. In this new century, the Russian capital has done much to improve its image in foreign eyes and increase the flow of tourists. In an interview with RIA Novosti, Grigory Antyufeyev, head of the Moscow Tourism Committee, dispelled rumors and myths about tourism in Moscow and explained why Moscow claims its rightful place as a world city.

Question: Mr Antyufeyev, what could you say about the results of your committee’s work in 2009? How did the global financial and economic crisis affect Moscow’s tourist industry?

Answer: The season is not over yet and it’s too early to sum up the final results. However, it is already clear that the tourist flow into Moscow has decreased by 15% over the past year. According to the FSB’s Frontier Service, about 2.6 million foreign visitors came to Moscow in the nine months of this year as compared to more than 3 million in 2008.

At the same time, tourism has been affected much less than the overwhelming majority of other industries. In some the decline reached 70% as compared to 15% in tourism. So this is one more opportunity to remember how important tourism is for economic development, budget revenues and jobs.

Q: What is your committee doing to minimize the crisis’s negative influence on the tourist flow to Moscow?

A: Early this year Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov met our request to reduce financing for tourism as little as possible. In addition, he allowed our committee to use most of the allocated funds in the beginning of the year. This enabled us to hold promotional campaigns all over the world to retain our position in the world tourist market. We are hoping that in half a year, a year at most, we will recover our position and then, later, we will see business grow.

Q: You said the tourist flow to Moscow has decreased. Are Moscow hotels empty?

A: If the tourist flow has decreased by 15% then the occupancy of hotels in Moscow will also have dropped by the same amount. Hence, this occupancy is not 65%, which was the average figure for Moscow hotels before the crisis, but a little less, 50%.  We wish the occupancy were higher but this is not bad. People are working, and the budget gets tax money.

Q: Nevertheless, even despite a decrease in the occupancy of Moscow hotels, experts still consider them among the most expensive in the world...

A: Yes, we have Ritz Carlton Hotel on Tverskaya Street where some rooms cost from $10,000 to $15,000 per day. This is true but so what? We can’t charge less for it. On the other hand, we also have the Universitetskaya Hotel in a modern 17 storey building some 100 meters from Moscow University. This three-star hotel has been repaired. Rooms there cost between 1,600 – 1,800 rubles per day depending on the season. Is 1,600 rubles too much? Who has invented this myth about Moscow being an expensive city? Who says it is not worth visiting?

Q: Incidentally, experts explain the average figures for Moscow’s foreign tourism by the shortage of hotels in the medium price range, which are the most popular. Do you agree with this?

A: At present, Moscow has more than 270 hotels with a total capacity of more than 80,000 beds. They are quite comfortable by Western standards. Almost two thirds of these hotels have three stars.

I don’t understand why journalists keep saying that we lack hotels in the medium price range. This is simply not true. I’ve headed the committee for 12 years and I don’t remember receiving any complaint on this score from any travel company. I have told the media more than once that if anyone has a problem with accommodating tourists, please call our committee and I will guarantee immediate help. We already have five Holiday Inn hotels in Moscow, which can accommodate several thousand tourists.

Every year we commission dozens of hotels, mostly three star. Now we have a different problem. We must make sure that the hotel construction costs do not outstrip the growth in the number of tourists coming here. We don’t want our hotels to stand idle. Let me repeat that we have always had enough hotel rooms. Only in Soviet times you could see a ‘no vacancy’ sign in hotels.

Q: Yes, there are three-star hotels in Moscow but not downtown.

A: What about downtown London or Paris? They don’t have a host of three-star hotels, either. Take London, for example. You won’t find any three-star hotels in the center. Or take Park Lane. You won’t find any four-star hotels there, either. They are all five-star.

Moreover, what do you consider the center? There are no three-star hotels on Red Square, this is true but there is a three-star Holiday Inn by Belorussky Railway Station, in the Central District of Moscow. It is very close to Tverskaya Street. There are more three-star hotels even closer to the center, for instance the East-West Hotel at Tverskoi Boulevard. This is a very good hotel with its own courtyard and it is right in the center.

Some people scare tourists with stories of shortages and high prices but this is not true.

Q: So you don’t agree with experts who consider Moscow one of the most expensive cities in the world?
A: Who thinks it is? Moscow transport, the subway, for instance, is among the cheapest. In London a ride on the subway is at least two pounds, which is about 100 rubles. In Moscow a subway ride is a little over 20 rubles, that is, five times cheaper.

They also claim that food is expensive. Could you name another city, which would have as many cheap places to eat as Moscow? Take one of them on Novy Arbat Street. There is an all-you-can-eat place for 390 rubles. You have a choice of 40 dishes, salads, fruit, hot courses and so on. This is less than 10 euros. Where in Paris, Tokyo, Berlin or Rome can you go out to eat for less than 10 euros? And I’m talking about good meals.

Q: What about safety? It matters a lot for many tourists when they choose where to go.

A: Moscow has become safer. There is not a single district which you cannot visit even at night. Tourist guides blacklist a whole number of areas in New York. Moscow has crime but everybody should be careful. In general, Moscow is a safer place than many capitals. Even quiet Switzerland has prisons and murderers. Is that a reason not to go there?

Q: What do foreign tourists want to see in Moscow? Are there any new sights?

A: We don’t need new sights. Do people go to Paris to see new sights? They visit the Louvre Museum and look at the Eiffel Tower. We have the Kremlin, Red Square, Tsaritsyno and the Tretyakov Gallery. We also have the Luzhniki Stadium, which is more modern. It is the world’s biggest sports complex. Then there is Moscow University on Sparrow Hills. We invite tourists to visit Tsaritsyno and Kolomenskoye because these are historical sights.

Q: Do tourists come for the New Year?

A: Yes but not many. As in many other cities, Moscow’s high tourist season is from May to October.  Winter is not a good time although some, Spaniards for instance, like to come to Moscow when it snows.

Q: Traditionally, Muscovites celebrate Shrovetide or pancake week on a large scale on Vassilyevsky Spusk. Won’t the crisis interfere with this?

A: Shrovetide is a very beautiful ancient Russian holiday dating back to pagan times. It is of course a holiday for Muscovites, for Russians and also a tourist event. About two million tourists come for the carnival in Rio de Janeiro. We are also trying to make Shrovetide attractive and I think we are getting there. Major European channels willingly show these celebrations for free. They receive good coverage in the European media.

Now this is a traditional holiday and I think it will continue to grow. We stage processions and Muscovites enjoy them. They have gotten used to them and attend the celebrations no matter the weather. I’m sure next year the holiday will be as good as it was last year.

Q: Will Moscow work to improve its image in the future?

A: We do not stop this work even during the crisis. We are putting ads on CNN and BBC and the National Geographic television channel. We are taking part in two dozen international tourist shows, including WTM in London, Fitur in Madrid, BIT in Milan, and IMEX in Frankfurt.

Tourist shows are very important. By tradition, the Spanish King opens the Fitur show in Madrid. This shows Spain’s attitude to tourism. The German Chancellor spends from six to eight hours there despite having a very busy schedule. This is impressive.

Five years ago we established a national coordinating council on tourism which now has 69 regional offices, practically covering the whole of Russia. So we do not only represent Moscow at major shows but also St. Petersburg, Kazan and other major cities. We represent Russia on Moscow’s behalf. Moscow is a vibrant and developing city and we find it interesting to work on improving its image.

Several years ago composer Igor Krutoy was asked why he returned to Moscow having spent many years in New York City. I liked his answer. He said that before New York was the world’s number one city but now it is Moscow. This is largely true.

People do not know much about us and we need to speak about ourselves all the time. The Mayor’s Office in Paris allocates 70 million euros per year to develop tourism. Why promote Paris, a city everyone knows? But they do promote it and that is right.

We also want to remind people about us and fight for our place in the information space. We want to increase the number of tourists we attract. We are planning to draw 10 million foreign tourists by 2020, not counting our own Russian visitors.