On Monday Roscongress
Foundation together with EY hosted ‘Business: A Survival Guide. Saving the Hotel
Industry’. Government representatives and industry professionals discussed the
issues the survival of the entire branch relies upon.
The discussion brought together Alexis Delaroff, Chief Operating Office,
Accor New East Europe; Vadim Prasov, Alliance
Hotel Management, Managing Partner; Alexander Bobylev, Chairman of the Board —
General Director, Baltschug; Olga Arkhangelskaya, Partner, Head of Real Estate, Hospitality, and
Construction Services, Head of the Transportation, Infrastructure and
Government, and Public Group in the CIS, EY; and Elena Lysenkova, Head of the
State Projects and Tourism Safety Department at Rosturism.
«Our industry’s main problem — whether it
is hospitality or food and beverage — is a sudden collapse in demand,» Mr
Bobylev summed up the joint opinion. «It means that the upper segment is on 4
to 5 % load, in other words it is in negative profit territory. Sure, there are
certain market segments that may feel better given the present circumstances.
Yet, the main question for the industry today is mere survival.»
Russian Government’s list of industries
that suffered from the spread of the coronavirus includes the hospitality
industry. Support measures mentioned by the discussion participants included
taxation grace period or tax breaks, as well as credit payment breaks to
redirect the funds towards employee and contractor payments.
In turn, Rosturism representative Elena
Lysenkova stated, that the government understands «how important it is to make
sure the assets remain in the hands of their proprietors. It would stipulate
their investment in further development of the industry.» At the same time, she
stressed that Rosturism is guided exclusively by the current legislature. «We
sincerely hope that the epidemiological situation will get back to normal and
Russia will have a proper summer season, the most crucial season for the entire
hospitality industry,» Ms Lysenkova added.
Discussion participants agreed that the
crisis caused by COVID-19 will change not just the hospitality industry but the
economy overall. «Things we have been talking about are coming towards us much
faster than we expected. Whether it is remote work, deliveries, or changes in
consumer preferences — we soon will find ourselves in a totally different economic
model,» said Ms Arkhangelskaya.
The entire conference can be
viewed at the Roscongress TV YouTube channel.
