AUSTRIA: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 per cent 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 per cent Russian."
The number of Russian and Ukrainian guests in the Tyrol has been rising each year since the millennium, boosting profits despite low snowfall and while other resorts fight to keep guests. 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 £15 million (€22.8 million) or more, driving prices up and pushing locals out of the market, despite the fact that only EU citizens have the right to buy property in Kitzbühel.
Sepp Schellhorn, president of the Austrian Hoteliers Association, condemned the Russian quota as "absurd" and "shortsighted".
It was ridiculous to speak of a mix of nations, Mr Schellhorn said: "Think about it: Kitzbühel has a large number of Germans, but no one has ever thought of trying to limit their numbers." - ( Guardian service)