Making Room For The Russians

In truth, for every posh hotel trying to turn Russians away, many more are trying to attract them, bad behavior or no. The Grand Hotel des Alpes in Chamonix, for instance, took on Russian receptionists and printed menus in Russian last season. In Aspen, Colorado, locals seem positively delighted at the prospect of an influx: "Super-rich Russians are coming! The jet-setters descend on Aspen and Vail, eager to soak up Colorado luxury," screamed a recent headline in The Denver Post. The number of Russians holidaying in Colorado has tripled over the last three years; Russian billionaire and Chelsea football-club owner Roman Abramovich recently bought a $12 million luxury chalet near Aspen. "Our message all along has been 'open arms'," says Bob Stinchcomb, director of sales for Vail Resorts. "It's beautiful to be working with a market where price almost never is part of the conversation."

Turkish resorts, too, are falling over themselves to attract Russians—though not exactly of the oligarch type. Turkey is close to Russia, it's cheap and—crucially—it allows visitors of all nationalities to buy a visa at the border. Last year nearly 1.5 million Russians traveled to Turkey, making it the most popular destination of Russian holidaymakers. The coolest nightclub in the coastal town of Kemer, the Aura, may not crack many bottles of Cristal, but it does play exclusively Russian music and serves vodka for $3 a shot. Muslim Avdin, a Turk who has worked as an "animator," or holiday organizer, at several local resorts, even traveled to Moscow during last winter's off season to improve his Russian. Most big resorts need Russian-speaking managers these days, he says; it's standard practice to have hotel buffets labeled in Cyrillic. And he believes the behavior of the few should not ruin it for everyone. "Normal middle-class Russians have a decent reputation," he says. "It's when they are rich, they get more arrogant."

One thing's for sure: it's hard to find a holiday spot without Russians. In 1995 just 2.6 million Russians went abroad; last year an estimated 8.7 million did. Among them were doubtless most of Russia's 103,000 millionaires and 55 billionaires. Love or hate them, the world's tourism industry is going to have to get used to the fact that the Russians are here in force. And as long as their oil money keeps flowing, they'll find plenty of hotels, restaurants and boutiques eager to welcome them.

© 2008