The city of Peter the Great may be the jewel among tourist destinations in Russia, but it cannot escape the effects of an ongoing political crisis that frightens or angers prospective visitors.

Inna Shalyto, chairwoman of the St. Petersburg Tourism Committee, estimated that the city’s international arrivals are off by about 15% this year, with cancellations from the U.S., Canada and Europe. She said arrivals first dipped at the end of spring and early summer, about two months after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea region in March.

Now, the city is feeling a second dip following the downing in July of a commercial jetliner, apparently by Ukrainian separatists, and amid rising tensions between Russia and the West.

Shalyto met with American travel journalists the last week of August during the first tourism committee-sponsored press trip for Americans. Planning for the event, in the works for a year, predated the current political crisis.

Acknowledging the challenges agents face when selling Russia now, Shalyto urged the trade to make the case that culture and history, St. Petersburg’s strong points, “are eternal and outside the political arena.”

“I know a lot of tourists have been afraid for their physical safety,” she said, “[but] you can see we are at peace here.”

Further, she said, potential visitors often don’t know the geography of Russia and don’t realize, for example, that St. Petersburg is quite far from the fighting in eastern Ukraine.

“Russia is a big country, the only thing separating Finland and Japan,” she said.

Shalyto said the city continues its promotional activities “in all directions” but would expand activities in China and Latin America in an effort to make up for losses elsewhere.

The Four Seasons Hotel Lion Palace, the journalists’ hospitality host, is taking a similar tack. Natalia Yermashova, the hotel’s public relations director, said the U.S. should account for 20% to 30% of the property’s business, but there was “quite a big loss” this year because of “the groups that did not come.”

“We would love to have the Americans come back, [but] there is not much we can do,” she said. “We will go after other markets, such as Brazil, India and China … Latin America in general,” and the property will focus more on Russia and member countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the economic and military alliance Russia formed after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Politics is taking a bite out of St. Petersburg’s tourism industry even as the city continues to up its game on several fronts. This March, it opened a new airport terminal, replacing its previous domestic and international terminals. The facility is sleek and modern, with a few idiosyncrasies — for example, passengers on the press group’s Aug. 31 departing flight walked down four flights of stairs to board the bus transfer to the aircraft.

Also in the sleek and modern category is the city’s cruise passenger facility, with four terminals and seven berths. It was completed in 2011.

The first phase of a new, larger exhibition hall, meant to supplement St. Petersburg’s smaller and overtaxed Lenexpo facility, is slated to open this fall. The new complex near the airport south of the city will have two hotels, which are expected to be managed by Hilton.

The Four Seasons hotel, in a former palace, opened last year, and the Faberge Museum, also in a former palace, debuted last November.

This summer, Russia began replacing single-entry visas for Americans with multiple-entry visas good for up to three years.

Cruise passengers traveling in groups have enjoyed 72-hour, visa-free entry since 2003, but now, Shalyto said, Russia’s parliament is considering 72-hour visa-free entry at 11 airports for individual transit passengers and passengers traveling in groups. In the case of St. Petersburg, the passengers could fly in but leave by ship.

As Shalyto stated, St. Petersburg was “at peace” during the journalists’ visit in the last days of August. In the ordinary course of sightseeing, taking meals, shopping or walking the streets, there was no indication that during those same days, European ministers were accusing Russia of invading eastern Ukraine and calling for more sanctions. Americans seemed to be as welcome as ever.

Further, responding to a journalist’s questions, Shalyto said that gay travelers were welcome in St. Petersburg.

Russia’s ban on food imports from the West, imposed in response to sanctions over Ukraine, is reportedly fueling price increases, but that did not translate into shortages. We spoke to a few chefs, who said they have ample alternative food sources.

Pickpockets are an acknowledged issue in St. Petersburg, particularly during peak summer season. Guides warn customers of the problem, as does occasional signage, using illustrations instead of words.

American travel companies that sell Russia deal with the gamut of customer worries.

Gwen Kozlowski, general manager at Exeter International, a tour operator specializing in Central and Eastern Europe and Russia, said Russia sales were down about 10%. Only a few clients have canceled, she said, but there are “a lot of concerns.”

Customers ask about distances from Ukraine or wonder if there will be food shortages or loss of air service.

She said Exeter, which has its own ground operations in Russia, advises that “the political issues have no effect on any tourist.”

Mir Corp., a tour operator that also has its own offices in Russia, reassures clients that it monitors events closely, said Douglas Grimes, president. Mir also discusses the geography so clients understand they will be far from the trouble spots, he said.

Mir’s cancellations were “few but worth half a million dollars,” Grimes said, with some clients saying they “didn’t want to support Russia.” These were high-end bookings, one worth about $50,000, Grimes said.

The operator has made up the losses elsewhere, he said, with good business to Iran and the ’Stans in Central Asia.

By early this summer, Mary-Ellin Doolittle, a consultant with Valerie Wilson Travel of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., found her clients “worried about giving money to Putin as well as their safety in Russia. They don’t like what Putin is doing. I had a client who was going to book a big trip to Russia but then said no way.”

It’s too early for the operators to promote Russia for 2015, but Grimes said Mir will “promote as we always have,” although it will be “a bit of a challenge” because, he predicted, “the issues facing us now won’t go away that fast.”

Source: http://www.travelweekly.com