GARB OF TOURISTS.

Waikato Times, Volume 110, Issue 18407, 14 August 1931, Page 3

GARB OF TOURISTS.

AMUSES THE RUSSIANS. PLUS FOURS EXCITE MIRTH. (From a Correspondent.) MOSCOW, July 2. The Soviet tourist trade has been hit by the world depression just as badly as it has been in other countries, but despite common talk it is not as great a blow to the national purse. Early in the spring officials of the Soviet touring agency, Intourist, said they expected 20,000 tourists this summer. Now when asked about It they shake their heads sadly and say they do not expect more than 12,000. Even that total is a very optimistic figure indeed. Out of 16 ships which were expected to touch Soviet ports on European or world cruises four have cancelled sailings. Many of those whicn have left are sailing with depleted passenger lists and are making the trip mostly to keep up prestige, agencies specialising in Russian tours report fewer bookings than were expected. But even if the Soviet did get the full 20,000 this would prove costly rather than profitable for the- time being. The amount tourists spend here does not nearly pay for rebuilding hotels, organising special railway trips, training guides and interpreters, and buying cars and buses for sightseeing, though these outlays, of course, would eventually bring a profit, tourist stays about ten days and spends £4O or £6O. Hotels for Tourists improved. Conditions for tourists, while not comparable with those in other countries, have Improved this year. In Leningrad there is a big hotel all done in the modern style of decorations and having more rooms with bath than any other hostelry in Russia. In Moscow hotels have been repaired and baths added to many rooms. Two big hotels, the Metropole and the Savoy, have been put on a dollar money basis, so that local Russians with rubles only cannot stay there and use the rooms needed for tourists. In the Metropole the former dining room was long used as some kind of workers’ club. Its habitues have been

dispossessed on the room redecorated luxuriously and restored to its former function, with, adjacent, an American bar —the only place outside tlie Embassies where a thirsty tourist can taste cocktails, gin fizzes and other half-forgotten drinks. The bartender there is a left-over from the Czarist regime, when he used to serve princes, counts and officers of the Imperial Guard in the old Metropole bar. The prices in this restaurai* and bar are all in American dollars. A jazz band plays during the earlier hours of the evening and after 1 p.m. 25 gipsies sing and dance. But the saxophone and guitar echo hollowly in the great hall because there is only a sprinkling of customers sitting in the corners, while downcast-visage I, white-garbed waiters stand in idle row’s. The majority of the foreign specialists here, while they earn liberal ruble pay in addition to a dollar salary, are reluctant to spend their dollars here, figuring that their savings will come in handy when they return to their own countries. High Charges for Extras. Foreign travellers who pay for organised tours are provided with lodging and transportation, but if they want some extras such as wine with their meals they find that the charges are extremely high. Then amusing things happen to them. They meet with stares in the streets and think this denotes a hostile attitude, whereas the staring is merely curiosity. Plus fours cause smiles on the part of grown-ups, while the children giggle openly at the funny man whose trousers do not come down to his shoelops. One professor brought silk pyjamas with him. When he was going through the Customs the officials found them and went into conference on the subject, examining the garments with puzzled looks. The professor thought they were frowning upon this example of capitalist luxury, but it turned out that they were trying to figure out their use.