In general I wouldn't mind it, but this is a problem for our local tourism economy:
In recent years (the last 10 or so), the better-off Russian middle-class increasingly went to Austrian ski areas during winter and they spend a lot, unlike the regular German or Dutch guests. Russian guests often like luxury, buy lots of bling-bling and check in at expensive hotels such as the Kempinski in Kitzbühel.
Now with the sanctions from the EU and the falling ruble, the Russian middle-class gets squeezed and bookings for this winter are down by about 50-70% among Russians.
Together with the fact that we still have virtually no snow on the mountains for skiing, this winter season is going to be crappy. The only thing that can still save it would be a massive snow dump in the next weeks and more traditional German/Dutch guests than usual, to offset the Russian loss in guests.
Not as bad as it looked like after all:
Today (the traditional arrival date for Russian tourists at the Salzburg airport, ahead of the Orthodox Christmas), a ton of jets from Russia came in.
But down 25% compared with last year (which is not as bad as the tourism managers predicted).
http://salzburg.orf.at/news/stories/2687417The Russian losses are compensated with more German (and even Turkish) tourists coming this year.
We also got a big snow dump the last days with another 1-2 feet underway in the next 3 days.
So, how's that saying ? "The soup is not eaten as hot as it is cooked."
