MOSCOW, July 30 (RIA Novosti) – The number of tourists staying in hotels and hostels in the Russian capital neared 6 million last year, a city official said Tuesday.
That figure tops the previous record of 4.5 million, set in 2011, according to official statistics.
The rise is due in part to an increased number of mini-hotels and hostels, which had been lacking in the capital, said City Hall’s acting tourism chief, Sergei Shpilko.
Moscow has 235 mini-hotels and hostels, with a combined capacity of 12,000 guests, Shpilko said, adding that about “two dozen” of such facilities had opened so far this year and another 28 bigger hotels were expected by year-end.
Still, there is no overcrowding among tourists in the Russian capital: Occupancy at Moscow hotels in the mid-price range stood at only 67 percent over the first six months of this year, no change year-on-year, according to a market study by real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle.
