The Russian State Duma has announced the decision to consult further on the bill that would prohibit residential buildings from being transformed into hotels and hostels. The first Deputy head of the party “United Russia”, Andrey Isaev made the announcement late last week.
Also in the news, the Federal Agency for Tourism sent a letter to the Deputy Ministry of Culture of Russia, Alla Manilova and the Chairman of the Duma Committee on housing policy and housing and communal services Galina Khovanskaya with a proposal for its revision. Mr. Isaev made this comment at the Council of United Russia:
“We agreed to continue consultations on this bill. Active work in this direction, the draft law sent to the government’s views.”
The issue of transforming residential premises is an ongoing problem with broad reaching complications. For many years accommodations for tourism within the Russian Federation have trended toward apartments being considered hostels or even hotels. New innovation in creating upscale hostel spaces shows great promise for the Russian market, as evidenced by successful ones like Soul Kitchen in St. Petersburg. Listed in Hostel Week, this modern dorm-room-kitchen metamorphosis is seen as a template for even greater developments.
The previous lack of conventional hotel space being key, as Russia modernizes the need for regulation expands as well. Andrey Isaev elaborated further:
“On the one hand, we are not able to take into account the interests of small and medium businesses, and the interests of those people who come into another country to another city, and do not have the opportunity to stay at hotel prices, but want to be able legally to freshen up, sleep and so on, in other words, time is not somewhere in the alley. On the other hand the interests of people who live in these homes and porches.”
Of course, hotel owners are vehemently against any bill that would permit the Airbnb-like letting of personal properties. While independent citizens favor deregulation in favor of their earning revenue from renting their homes and properties. The original draft of the bill meant hostels could only be established with the 100% consent of all residents of apartment complexes. The complex matter brings to light Russia’s growing pains.