The Baltic coast freezes hotels – Newspaper Kommersant No. 237 (7438) of 12/21/2022
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The reduced tourist flow to the Kaliningrad region is forcing business to be cautious in implementing previously announced projects to develop tourism infrastructure in the region. The Mantera Group of Companies of the family of the ex-head of the Ministry of Agriculture Alexander Tkachev is liquidating two companies created in the region for the construction of hotels. For the time being, it is expedient for investors to direct the existing resources to regions that are less risky for them – for example, the Krasnodar Territory, according to the market.
Registered in Kaliningrad LLC “Mantera West” and “West Resort”, whose main activity is the hotel business, in December of this year began the process of liquidation, moved into the stage of liquidation, follows from the data Kartoteka.ru. Both of these structures were established by the General Director of Sochi Park Hotel Vladislav Smirnov. The latter company is controlled by Yug-Businesspartner LLC, which is associated on the market with the family of the ex-head of the Ministry of Agriculture Alexander Tkachev. Its assets in the tourism business and development are managed by Mantera Group.
Back in 2021, Mantera announced plans to build a theme park in Kaliningrad. Kommersant’s source in the tourist market says that since the registration of Mantera West and West Resort, he has not heard about Mantera’s real steps to implement projects in Kaliningrad, including raising funds or negotiations with local authorities. Mantera told Kommersant that they do not exclude future participation in investing in the tourism potential of the Kaliningrad region.
According to Sergey Romashkin, CEO of the Dolphin tour operator, the domestic tourist flow to the Kaliningrad region has decreased by 18% year-on-year this year. “Last year, interest in the region was actively growing, but this year the situation has changed,” he states. The expert does not exclude that this is due to the complicated transport logistics.
According to Rosstat, in January-September 2022, collective accommodation facilities in the Kaliningrad region accepted 615.3 thousand people. This is 12.4% less than the figure for the same period last year, while in the whole country during this time there was an increase by the same 12.4%, to 53 million people.
Mr. Romashkin points out that hotel projects in the Kaliningrad region are generally being implemented and, during a period of high demand, there may still be a shortage of rooms in the region. But the tourist season here lasts no more than two and a half months a year, which is about half as long as in the Krasnodar Territory, he explains. For this reason, according to the expert, the payback period of projects also increases significantly. “In this case, it is logical if the investor decided to focus on projects in the Black Sea region,” says Mr. Romashkin.
Mantera is not the first large company that has not yet been able to implement a planned tourism project in the Kaliningrad region. Spring from the construction of hotels in the region refused founder of the Biblio-Globus tour operator Alexander Tugolukov. “In the Kaliningrad region, in principle, it is difficult to find sites for the construction of large hotels, and communications have not been connected to the existing ones,” says the interlocutor of Kommersant in the tourism market. Although the Kaliningrad region turned out to be not the only difficult region for investors planning to invest in tourism infrastructure. Previously they also began to turn projects in the Far East.
Deputy Chairman of the Council of the Union of Tourism and Hospitality Roman Yeremyan believes that against the backdrop of general uncertainty, investors in general will withhold investments in large-scale tourism projects in regions with high economic risks, focusing on more understandable locations for the time being – the Black Sea coast and the Caucasus. According to the expert, the existing state support resources will be directed to co-financing such initiatives in the near future.
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