Ahead of the holiday season, Russian tour operator Biblio-Globus sharply cut accommodation prices at major hotels and resorts it leases in Abkhazia. In effect, it has launched price dumping that could drive local hotel owners out of business.
Social media is full of videos showing people can holiday for next to nothing in respectable seaside hotels in Abkhazia, with three meals included. Room rates range from 180 to 400 roubles, or roughly $2 to $5.
The videos describe the deals in glowing terms.
“A clean, cosy room for two with a sea view, just steps from the shore. Decent breakfast, lunch and dinner. And all of it costs 360 roubles ($4.81) a day for two. It feels like winning the lottery,” one Russian tourist says.
Local owners of small hotels and guesthouses, as well as people renting out summer apartments, have little reason to celebrate. They say such heavy undercutting could leave them without income.
Biblio-Globus has done this before. Last year, it kept what critics called absurdly low holiday prices at Abkhaz hotels until July. Other accommodation stood virtually empty as a result, while owners suffered heavy losses. Many said the Russian tour operator had effectively driven them to the brink of bankruptcy.
“The tourist season in Abkhazia runs from May to October. People live on what they earn in those months through the rest of the year. Because of last year’s dumping, local hotel owners effectively lost two months. Many ended up in debt instead of making a profit.
If you look at how many small hotels are being advertised for sale on social media, you can at least begin to grasp the scale of the crisis in the local tourism industry,” says guesthouse owner Elvira.
Last year, the dumping issue became so serious that the parliament of Abkhazia held a separate session on it. But it took no effective action.
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Hotel prices in Abkhazia
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