St Petersburg, Russia's Window to the West is in the run up to a G8 meeting in mid July. Designed to showcase this great city to thousands of international media men and women assembled to report on the G8 meeting, the event is now being viewed with dismay from many within the travel industry in St Petersburg. As a centralised economy, the state still wields great power in Russia. For the summit, the city's airport is closed to all flights; the railway to and from Moscow is closed for days before the event, the wonderful palaces are being closed without notice to tourists to allow the G8 lreaders and their entourages to visit in peace and safety. Half the port is closed to river traffic. And yet, tour groups have been booked to come to the city for months and even years ahead. Well, they are being denied the real reason they want to come to St Petersburg. This scandal happened just the same in 2003 - with hotels hiking prices dramatically to profiteer from the city's 300th Anniversary -and they are still paying the price of reduced bookings in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Tourist companies do not forget these problems - they simply absorb their losses and remember not to fall into similar traps again and will view Russia as a destination with suspicion for years to come. Tourists to will be disappointed with their long-anticipated holidays losing centrepieces of interest. Those returning today will report on the nightmare traffic, the streets closed for renovation in the height of the tourist season and places open to world leaders but not to the people that they are there to serve. The dream of widespread positive publicity for the city could end in disaster. Tourism growth should be planned and supported. As soon as the G8 comes to town, Joe Bloggs is trampled underfoot. Time for the tourist to take priority. The city has massive tourist attactions ranging from the Hermitage to the Catherine Palace at Pushkin - with world renowned treasures and incredible history. The city is more open than ever and it needs tourists so lets hope that the G8 meeting is reported in more positive vein than many fear. |
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