RUSSIA’S escalating conflict with Chechnya is tarnishing the country’s image and damaging tourism, officials have admitted.
Despite being well away from the major tourist destinations, the war is deterring visitors and losing it much-needed revenue.
Intourist deputy managing director Nikolay Donskov said visitor numbers will be flat in 1999 following high-profile coverage of the Chechnya crisis.
“People see what is happening on television and even though [the fighting] is nowhere near the major tourist places it still affects us,” he said. “It puts people off Russia and is frustrating for us.
“The number of visitors to Russia has been rising steadily, by around 15%, but there will no increase this year.”
Donskov added that fear of crime has also played its part in keeping visitors away from Russia but he claimed not one tourist has been affected.
“We had 20,000 visitors from the UK this year and 200,000 worldwide and not one was a victim of crime,” he said. The Kosovo crisis also hit the tourist industry, added Donskov.