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Friday, February 09, 2007

Austria Slaps Quota on Odious Russian Tourists

La Russophobe wishes she had a rouble for every time she's heard from a Russophile maniac that Europe sides with Russia against the United States, and/or that Russians can bribe their way out of any problem. Meanwhile, Americans can travel to Austria in any number without a visa, but Russians? Let the Guardian fill you in:

To many resorts they would be viewed as dream guests: tourists prepared to spend huge amounts of money, day and night. But hoteliers in the luxury Austrian ski resort of Kitzbühel think otherwise. According to a memo leaked to the local press, they have voted to limit the number of Russian visitors to 10% of the total number of guests at any one time. According to outgoing tourism chief Renate Danier, the deal reached by 16 out of 20 of Kitzbühel's four- and five-star hotels states that only a limited number of Russians are welcome in the Tyrolean resort. She told reporters: "We have so many bookings from international travel agents that we have a limited ability to take any more guests. We want international variety and not to be 50% Russian." The agreement states that the quota is necessary to retain the "international mix" for which Kitzbühel is well known. It adds that Russian guests are "naturally welcome" but that Kitzbühel wants to avoid becoming a Russian "stronghold". The number of Russian and Ukrainian guests to the Tyrol has been rising each year since the millennium, boosting profits while other resorts fight to keep guests despite low snowfall. Many resorts now accept the rouble, with menus written in Cyrillic and some resorts laying on Russian-speaking shopping scouts. They are known for their big spending - Gucci skis and Chanel skiwear abound, while Maybach cars cruise the streets. Last year Yelena Baturina Luzhkova, wife of the mayor of Moscow, reportedly ordered "kilos of caviar" in a single evening.

The Russians are also notorious for their ability to party hard, as well as for drunkenness and unruly behaviour. But tourism experts believe that the underlying anger of the 9,000 locals stems from the Russian-fuelled property boom. Russians are increasingly buying ski chalets and hotels for £15m or more, driving prices up and pushing locals out of the market, despite the fact only EU citizens have the right to buy property in Kitzbühel. The owner of Chelsea football club, Roman Ambramovich, has reportedly put in a bid for a luxury hotel, while Mrs Luzhkova is said to have bought a golf course on which she plans to build a hotel. Politicians are coming under pressure to deal with the issue as property prices have almost doubled since 2005. "It's time to act before locals are pushed out," said Kitzbühel's mayor, Klaus Winkler. Sepp Schellhorn, president of the Austrian Hoteliers Association, condemned the Russian quota as "absurd" and "shortsighted". "This is not in line with the wishes of those who promote Austria or the Austrian economy," he said.

But the head of Sporthotel Mayr-Reisch, Rupert Mayr-Reisch, said: "We've learned from other resorts, like St Moritz. You get a bit of a nationality imbalance when one nation gets the upper hand. It's more pleasant when there are not too many people from one country in the same hotel." However, Mr Schellhorn said that it was ridiculous to speak of a mix of nations: "Think about it: Kitzbühel has a large number of Germans, but no one has ever thought of trying to limit their numbers."

Now, dear reader, how do you think Russians will react to this news? Will they (a) blame an evil foreign conspiracy of "russophobes" or will they (b) seek to find out why Austrians hate them so much and try to reform or will they (c) laugh it off like little schoolboys, as if it matters not?

15 comments:

Irishman said...

Can you actually fucking read what you post on your own blog? At no point in the article does it say a single word about Austrians hating Russians. NOWHERE DOES IT SAY IT. As usual, spin, bullshit, spin. Dr Bullshit LR strikes again with a another brilliant expose! Ura! Now if you slowly read the article nice and slowly -should be no problem even for an American-you'll see the thrust of it is high property prices. You really are actually pathetic.

Ger

and yes and I'm going to keep firing shots until you respond to my queries.

nopsam said...

Another example of how things backfire when someone browses the headlines of newspapers to find something 'apparently' russophobic but forgets to read the entire text before doing a lousy copy & paste job.

The worries of Austrians are shared by many French as well, but in France the worries are caused by wealth British pensioners buying property in Brittany or Provence.

The average French complain about Brits raising property prices there as much Austrians do complain about Russians doing so in Austria.

Go and ask the Swiss how much they protested against wealthy Germans buying Chalets in Switzerland some time ago.

Дерьмо!

La Russophobe said...

IRISHMAN: Oh, I see. They slapped on the quota because they just can't stand so much pleasure, right? Dude, don't drink and post.

La Russophobe said...

SERGEJ:

Please post evidence that the French have put a quota on British tourists, you lying sack of dirt.

Thanks for confirming my prediction, though. Instead of solving Russia's problem, in classic neo-Soviet manner you claim that since somebody else has the same problem, you don't need to solve it. That's why the USSR doesn't exist any more, and with "friends" like you Russia is soon to follow.

La Russophobe said...

SERGEJ & IRISHMAN:

You know, you guys are quite a cute little pair. You obviously don't like the things this blog says about Russia: Do you REALLY think that the tone and substance of your comments show this blog is wrong on Russia, rather than confirming it is right? Do you REALLY think it's possible that the tone and substance of your comments would cause this blog to rethink it's position, rather than convincing it that it is correct?

You're a pair of classic Russophile losers. Every word that comes out of your brainless mouths digs you deeper and deeper into a hole of self-destruction. Every day, you provide us with more and more crude, childish evidence that Russia is just as we describe. You go on thinking how brilliant you are, and how stupid everybody is who disagrees with you, just as the Soviets did. You fiddle away as Russia goes the way of the Soviet Union.

In other words, you're far more dangerous to Russian than any so-called "enemy."

nopsam said...

LR wrote: Please post evidence that the French have put a quota on British tourists, you lying sack of dirt.

Now that's funny ....

a) Where did I claim that the French have put a quota on British tourists ? I do not have to provide evidence for something I haven't said or written.

Again: The average French complain about Brits raising property prices there as much Austrians do complain about Russians doing so in Austria.

Where exactly did I mention a quota ? Show it to me please ?

b) You do claim that Austria has put a quota on Russian tourists. You are coming up with a claim that cannot be sustained. You are the one who has to provide evidence for what you have claimed / written.

Please post evidence that the Austrians have put a quota on Russian tourists, you lying sack of dirt. ;-)

c) The Guardian doesn't write anything about Austria putting a quota on Russian. Quite the opposite ...

The Guardian writes :

Sepp Schellhorn, president of the Austrian Hoteliers Association, condemned the Russian quota as "absurd" and "shortsighted". "This is not in line with the wishes of those who promote Austria or the Austrian economy," he said.

La Russophobe said...

We reported that the Austrians are putting quotas on Russians. You said that means nothing because lots of countries hate each other, like France and Britain. We said that lots of countries aren't slapping quotas on foreign tourists as Austria is doing to Russia, and the French certainly aren't doing it to the British. Therefore, your analogy is totally bogus. The Austrians hate the Russians far mroe than the French hate the British. Russia has alienated the entire world and stands alone.

Thanks for confirming we were right.

nopsam said...

LR: We reported that the Austrians are putting quotas on Russians.

Which is wrong. Evidence ? ;-)

LR:You said that means nothing because lots of countries hate each other, like France and Britain.

Nope. I never said that Britan hates Frace or vice versa. Evidence ? ;-)

LR: We said that lots of countries aren't slapping quotas on foreign tourists as Austria is doing to Russia, and the French certainly aren't doing it to the British.

Austria has no quota on Russians, nobody claimed France has one Brits. Evidence ? ;-)

LR: Therefore, your analogy is totally bogus. The Austrians hate the Russians far mroe than the French hate the British. Russia has alienated the entire world and stands alone.

Where is the evidence that Austria hates Russia ? Where is the evidence that France hates Britain ?

The only thing you have to thank me for is pointing out that you cannot quote a newspaper correctly and that you are lying.

You are welcome ;-)

nopsam said...

Dear 'La Russophobe'

I think we should have an independant party review this topic and give Austria herself the opportunity to comment on the subject.

I just mailed the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and forwarded a link to the topic on your Blog, as well as a link the initial report on the Guardian, to them.

I have already received a confirmation that they will review the links and comment on them as soon as they are able to do so.

I will copy & paste the promised e-mail to this blog. In case you should prefer to receive their comment directly, please provide an e-mail address so I can either forward their e-mail to you or can ask them to include as a 'CC'.

Have a nice day !

So let's see what turns out.

nopsam said...

Ooops ....

Their mailaddress is einlaufstelle@bmaa.gv.at, my request there was filed and processed with the request ID:1171041290.

Just in case you want to contact them yourself to make sure Sergej won't manipulate or falisfy the e-mail.

Irishman said...

First of all LR there isnt anything crude about our attacks on you. In all cases, we are simply pointing out innaccuracies, hysterics, spin, offensiveness and outright lies. I defy you to answer what I said elsewhere about 'Cruelty to Disabled', for example. You wont answer because you are unable to. You know I'm right. And unlike you I'm not afraid to speak and say my name. You on the other hand hide behind anonymity. Its not because of safety. Its because you are terrfied of challenges to your nonsense. In the above, you still did not show anywhere that the Austrian authorities are placing a quota on Russian visitors or more seriously your point that Russians are hated by Austrians. Hopefully Sergei's letter to the Austrians will help deal with that. Ireland has a huge tourist industry and I know for certain our government wouldnt be one bit happy about some nutty blogger claiming the Irish hated some nationality and didnt want them to come. I'm sure the Austrians will feel the same. I've never been there but my parents were and said they're the nicest people you could meet and really tourist focussed. I'd be very suprised if your ridiculous rant has any substance.
Also, where are you getting your info ''the Austrians hate the Russians more than the French hate the Brits''? What are you talking about? Do you know the first thing about the Bristish Isles? You dont, you're a Yank. You cant imagine the dislike the Brits and French have for each other. YOU ARE FULL OF SHIT. Pardon the language.

nopsam said...

Ger, now she will hysterically demand an immediate apology again and threaten you to immediately delete your messages in her fashist Pseudo-Soviet baby dictaor stile. :-)

I can tell you why she wants to ban me from her blog. She is afraid of what is coming up. The Austrians weren't the only ones who received an e-mail.

I do not care where to post my comments on her, either here or on my own blog (see profile).

She pissed off so many people, now they will start pissing off her. She had it coming, she wanted it this way.

Irishman said...

Sergei,
she asked for it, you're dead right. All I asked her was to explain herself and her postings. I highlighted a lot of stuff and she just ignores it, claiming my criticism beneath her - this from somebody who calls people sluts and whores. Not only that but a lot of exile readers are looking for her on the net and elsewhere. She thinks no-one reads the eXile. She's very wrong. Exile has much more readers than her site.
Hopefully the Austrians and Sharapova's lawyers will sort the whole matter out. I'd just prefer if it was Lubyanka doing it.
Ger

La Russophobe said...

SERGEJ: You lied about Robert Amsterdam. You said he does not know who I am, but his blog has two posts about this blog and I am listed on his blogroll. You did not apologize. You are banned from commenting on this blog. You are a liar with no character or sense of honor.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Renate Danier. To be overcrowded by the Russian tourists is good as long only as "cash is the only king". Austrians clearly want to continue their lives in the Kitzbuhel also. I experienced what means destination crowded by Russians, and now I allways gather information about density of Russians in planned destinations before I go to trip. By this reason Kitzbuhel, Andora and several similar places is out of my destinations list. It seems that if things in article progresses, some of them, can return to this list.