What are the difficulties the hospitality industry is facing, what moves to support it are being elaborated and what needs to be done now, read in our material.
The situation with the spread of coronavirus has affected all segments of the Russian tourism business. In Crimea the tourism industry is one of the main budget revenue sources of the region. And it suffered the most losses, since in no other activity there is a strict ban on the services for the period from March 28 to June 1, said the Minister of Resorts and Tourism of Crimea Vadim Volchenko. Therefore, today it is important for representatives of the hospitality industry and government to unite and develop a comprehensive anti-crisis plan.
"Support measures should be clear, targeted, understandable and, most importantly, effective – this is what we and the professional community are working on. It is the health-resort and tourism sector that will probably become the only mechanism for Crimea to lead the region’s economy out of the crisis, because it launches a large number of related activities around it. Therefore, it is extremely important to verify all these measures. We discuss them with NGOs, such as the Support of Russia federal public organization and in direct communication with business. Managers and owners of more than 120 large Crimean tour businesses joined in our video conference", — said the head of the Ministry of Resorts and Tourism.
The Russian government, on the instruction of the president of the State, has already taken a number of priority measures to support the industry and is now continuing to develop additional financial assistance tools. The work to maximize assistance to the tourism sector enterprises, seriously affected by the pandemic, is also underway at the level of the republican government, the minister emphasized.
"Support measures should be divided into federal and regional. We have already sent all the necessary documents to the federal authorities and are waiting for their response. We intensify interaction with colleagues from the Federal Tourism Agency and the Russian Ministry of Economy. And as for the regional measures − whether it is tax holidays or certain exemptions, such as paying for housing and communal services, some additional banking services or credit mechanisms − all this is being worked out on the instructions of the Head of the Republic of Crimea. In the near future everything will be discussed with him and all mechanisms will be verified and presented. And our task is to make participation in these mechanisms understandable and effective", — said Vadim Volchenko.
However much − the head of the Ministry of Resorts emphasizes − today depends on the actors in the hospitality industry themselves. The 2020 season largely depends on how they manage to maintain their business, establish interaction with tourists and work out a further campaign to attract guests after lifting the restrictions.