Britain's Guardian newspaper Thursday cited outgoing Kitzbuhel tourism chief Renate Danier as saying that local hotel owners had agreed to introduce a 10% quota on Russian visitors, who were becoming the dominant group among guests at the luxurious Tyrolean resort.
"I believe that the conflict has been completely settled," Natela Shengelia, a deputy head of the Russian Federal Tourism Agency, said at a late Thursday press conference in Russia's Embassy in Vienna.
"In reality, there are no restrictions. That is an absurd and unfounded report," she said, adding that Austrian officials, including Minister of Economics and Labor Martin Bartenstein, also refuted the rumors.
Meanwhile, the initiator of the scandal, Renate Danier, was sacked for her statement, sources in the Austrian Economics and Labor Ministry said.
It turned out that media might have misunderstood what she meant, since Kitzbuhel hoteliers have, in fact, been discussing ways to increase the share of Russian tourists in the Austrian Alps to 10% from their current share of only 2%.
The reputation of wealthy Russian tourists flooding European ski resorts and spending staggering sums on ski equipment and lavish parties was badly damaged by a scandal early last month involving one of Russia's richest men in Courchevel, France, a favored venue for the Russian elite.
Metals tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov was arrested January 9 in a police raid of several hotels targeting prostitution among minors. Prokhorov was released a few days later without charges.
