Russian tourism grinds to a half – except to outer space
January 2, 2015 by admin
Filed under Choosing Lingerie
“Rich Russians head for UK in
record numbers” reads a headline in the FT. Hardly big news, as rich Russians
appear to have been invading London since time immemorial, and the frequency
with which you can hear Russian spoken walking around Knightsbridge or Hampstead
is evidence of it.
Small change
Visiting Britain: An impossible dream?
The best indicator however is the
number of Russian shelling out for investor visas that cost £1 million for an
entry permit good for three years, four months: up 69% this year, says the FT.
Capital flight from Russia is
often in the news. The rouble crisis, looming recession in Russia and troubled
relations with the west, have boosted that trend. Some Russians seeking to escape
uncertainty at home are clearly choosing to move closer to friends already
settled in London.
Russian tycoons coming to the UK
might be numerous but are not yet counted in their thousands: 162 investor
visas were granted to Russians in the first nine months of 2014; 66 more
compared with the same period last year. Last month the Immigration Office
introduced new rules restricting the nature of investment and doubling the cost
to £2 million, “making it harder to obtain visas”, the FT says. The cynic in me
doubts this was done to limit the number of applicants, but rather as a
money-making measure. It’s small change for the wealthy Russians, Kazakhs,
Chinese and other potential candidates who can afford luxuries, so why not
double the price?
UK visas for sale from £ 2 mln and record number of Russians head to UK http://t.co/LZ3l8qC8Dc @FT
— Xavier De Pauw (@XavierDePauw) December 21, 2014
Super-rich visitors to the UK are
on the up, but fewer ordinary Russian mortals are coming. The decline in
tourist numbers from Russia has hit high-end as well as mass-market European
resorts, Middle East and Asian destinations. Patrick Millar, of
London-based Kirker Holidays said there has been a slump in demand from Russian
guests at five-star hotels in cities such as Paris, Venice, Monaco and Prague:
“The Russians who would usually be paying top rate are not there. The hotels
are seeing a lot of additional capacity,” quotes the Independent.
Natural beauty
For most Russians who are not
planning (or have abandoned plans) to leave, life may not feel very rosy right
now: the collapsing rouble, and soaring prices put the prospects of travelling
to London and elsewhere way out of reach.
Fortunately, it’s not difficult to bring some colour back into their
lives.
Russian economy must ‘adapt’ to new conditions, says Central Bank head
Russian politician Igor Chernishev
suggests women turn to beetroot instead of lipstick. Those of the fairer sex
struggling to afford imported beauty products could now opt for the ‘natural
look’ or use beetroot as an alternative to make-up, he said, according to the Daily Mail.
The Siberian senator says beetroot
is completely chemical-free and good for the body. He also prefers Moscow-made
lingerie to French, though it’s not clear whether it is because synthetic
materials are used in the West, or if the designs don’t conform to Russian
traditions and culture. Lace lingerie imports have been banned in Russia since July in an attempt to
protect Russian women from the horrors of wearing man-made materials. The new
law, part of a measure introduced by the EU-style Eurasian customs union,
prohibits the import, production or sale of synthetic lingerie in Russia,
Belarus and Kazakhstan.
Star struck
One destination that remains
untroubled by sanctions or exchange rates is outer space.
The US astronaut and Russian
cosmonaut who are preparing for a record-breaking mission on the International
Space Station (ISS) say they are unfazed by any turbulence in their countries’
political ties, reports the Guardian. Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko
are due to spend a year on the ISS as a test-bed for a future three-year long
trip to Mars. Not quite an Interstellar story yet, but as plans for a
manned trip to Mars around the 2030 are being discussed, the potential health
and psychological risks that cosmonauts might face on such a long journey have
to be evaluated, and the ISS offers the best platform for preparation.
Elena Serova grows an apple tree on the International Space Station
For those staying on Earth, there
is a great opportunity to learn about the history of space exploration at Cosmonauts. Hosted by London’s
Science Museum, and originally planned as key event of the 2014 UK-Russia Year
of Culture in 2014, it is designed to tell the scientific story of how Russian
technological ingenuity launched the Space Age. It is also a visual history of
how artists and designers have dreamed of and imagined the cosmos in posters,
paintings and photographs during the past century.
Natalia Sidlina, artistic curator,
explained at a recent roundtable discussion at the VA organised by Russian
Art and Culture that by the time the exhibition opens in 2015, it will have been
three years in the making, but the desire to organise such a show has been
around since the break up of the Soviet Union.
The opinion of the writer may not necessarily reflect the position of RBTH.
