It is necessary to triple the number of hostels, to almost seven thousand beds, Daniel Mishin, (member of the board of the non-profit partnership Union of Hostels), told reporters on Monday.
“In Moscow, six thousand nine hundred beds are needed, that is three times what we have now, there is both demand and space,” Mishin noted.
According to him, currently in the capital there are only 45 hostels with 2,300 beds.
“15 hostels are members of the union. We hope that by the end of this year all hostels will join our union,” Mishin said.
"In 2009, nine hostels were opened, and in 2010, fourteen were opened," Mishin said.
Gennady Ustinov, the General Director of MC “Your Hotel”, added that it also planned to open a hostel with 120 beds in Stoleshnikov pereulok in the centre of Moscow by the end of this year.
As the chairman of the Union of Hostels Ivan Ksenofontov noted, almost all hostels operating in Moscow are located in the city centre. "99% of hostels in Moscow are located in the Central Administrative District or within the Third Transport Ring," Ksenofontov said.
According to him, the average cost of living in a hostel varies from 450 to 900 rubles per night. In the summer, the price can increase up to one thousand rubles.
Sergey Shpilko, Chairman of the Moscow Committee on Tourism, noted that the service in these hostels is "quite modern and designed in accordance with international standards."
Daniel Mishin, the member of the board of the Union of Hostels, also said that it was mainly young people who are interested in tourist industry work in the hostels. He added that a prerequisite for working in hostels is knowledge of the English language.
"This year we began to contact professional universities and agreed that some students will practice at hostels," Mishin added.
According to him, most hostels are three-room apartments, several apartments or a separate floor.