Still six years to go, officials in this Black Sea resort are concerned about Olympics 2014, as Moscow faced criticism last month, when the capital’s hotels struggled to manage an influx of 40,000 football fans for the Champions League final.
Sochi officials have pledged an extra 35,000 hotel rooms in the next few years. “We are sure we won’t have the same problems as Moscow, plenty of available and affordable rooms is a priority,” said Yelena Pavlovich, head of the city administration’s hotel development department.
Prestigious Russian film festival Kinotavr kicks off in Sochi tonight. Famous film director Aleksei German will be presented a special award for outstanding artistic contribution to the development of Russian cinema art, in the opening ceremony. On June 15 at the closing ceremony, Armen Medvedev will be awarded for outstanding contribution to the development of Russian cinema art and film science.
Russian tour operators say the tourists visiting Sochi this year are less compared to other resorts in Krasnodar Region. The building sites and Olympics 2014 construction traffic jams are keeping the tourists away. It is very contradicting, considering the fact that the Olympics work has not yet started and traffic jams are lesser compared to 2007. Another reason for Sochi’s decreasing popularity - a holiday here is around 1.5 times more expensive than the neighbouring resorts.
Students from universities in St. Petersburg will work in the tourism sector during the Sochi Olympics-2014 - said Sergei Krylov, Executive Director of the National Academy of Tourism. He noted that “legal bind” of graduates for the domestic tourism industry would help attract staff to work at the Olympics in 2014 in Sochi. Currently Tourism is being taught to about 3500 students in St. Petersburg and most of them usually leave to work abroad.
Tourism component of the Olympics in Sochi would need about 30 thousand professionals and it is clear that Krasnodar region itself cannot offer so many people - stressed S. Krylov. Students from St. Petersburg and Legislative consolidation would give additional impetus for the formation of volunteers to work at the Olympics
The landslide victory of President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party in December’s parliamentary election and Putin’s nomination of Dmitry Medvedev to succeed him cements Putin’s position as Russia’s Leader. Now, he can freely accelerate the state’s takeover and consolidation of Russia’s remaining heavy industries. Read the complete Post.
SOCHI, Russia — On the pebbled beaches of the Russian Riviera, sunbathers soak up rays on a warm day under a cloudless sky. Read the complete Post.
The Sochi airport building is a small one-floor affair, somewhat ghastly looking, not at all designed for spending any length of time in.
Billboards announce development plans in the Lower Imeretinskaya Valley, the site of Sochi’s Olympic Village and indoor events such as skating.
