Legislative problems of hostels in the Russian Federation

Abstract

The article discusses current trends and development prospects of inexpensive hotels, namely hostels as part of amendments to the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, called the “Khovanskaya Law”. Hostels, unique type of collective accommodation facilities, have their own difficult history. In our country, they appeared relatively recently as low-cost accommodation and already have occupied their place on the market, got the trust and consumer loyalty of many Russian and foreign tourists. Today, considering latest legislative decisions in our country, the owners of this business face of complicated, sometimes insoluble, problems. At the same time, in a number of popular tourist centers, such as Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Crimea, Kaliningrad region and others, this type of collective accommodation facilities occupies a significant part of the regional hotel business market. The entry into force of the Law on Hostels on October 1, 2019 threatens the existence of these accommodation facilities, which will inevitably lead to a decrease in the number of domestic and inbound tourist flows, which will negatively affect the economy of these regions. Nevertheless, today there are several measures giving the hostel owners the opportunities to legalize their business, followed by several changes to the nature of their activities. In the future, the situation on the market of inexpensive accommodation facilities will largely depend on flexibility, improvement and possible subsequent changes, which may be reflected in new legislative initiatives.