The head of Rostourism Zarina Doguzova said that the first tourist sites in the 2020 season will open sanatorium-resort complexes and hotels with the possibility of accommodation in separate cottages. The Russian resort "Yaroslavskoe Vzmorye" is ready to receive guests! Artem Litvin, the new manager of the park-hotel "Koprino Bay", talks about the plans of the resort and what awaits tourists in June.
- Artem, you came to the position of the manager of the park-hotel "Koprino Bay" from the leadership position that you held in the hotel business in Sochi. Please tell us about your work experience. What projects have you run in the tourism industry?>
- I am an absolutely hotel person by nature, and my whole life is connected with hotels. I went from being an intern in the reservation department to general manager. Before moving to Koprino, I worked in Sochi as Cluster Sales and Marketing Director for several hotels run by the French operator AccorHotels. Responsible for the integration of hotels into the cluster and the creation of a unified sales department.
The main question that everyone asked me when moving from Sochi to Koprino was whether I had winter clothes. Yes, I had to buy a lot.
Now all hotels in Russia are closed until June 1, 2020. What is the team of the Park-hotel "Koprino Bay" doing, what are the employees involved in?
- We are actively preparing for the season. Believe me, there is always work on 15 hectares of territory. For example, right now we are restoring the embankment after the spring flood, we are carrying out current repairs of the room stock.
How will you meet your guests after the opening of the park hotel on June 1? Maybe you are planning to surprise tourists with something?
- I look forward to this date. The challenge for the coming season is to maintain a high level of customer service and make hotel services even more convenient. We will move towards a healthy lifestyle, sports and harmony with nature, but not forgetting about everyday joys. Volga sunrises and sunsets have already missed their spectators. Our coastline is gentle and faces south. Therefore, from morning to evening, the sun illuminates the embankment. And we want to give this good mood to our guests who miss the sun, clean fresh air, walks.
In addition to the beautiful nature and the purest ecology, comfort and convenience await our guests. Let me remind you that the cost of living in the Park-Hotel "Bukhta Koprino" includes not only breakfast, but also a visit to the Wellness Center. This is a complex of baths - a sauna, a Russian steam room, a hammam and a Roman bath - and a 25-meter pool, the highlight of which is an open-air bowl, into this part of the pool you can swim out from the closed area. On the territory of the park-hotel there is also a real Russian bath with a plunge pool and a hot tub. Here you can take a steam bath with a large company - up to 20 people.
Our only green parking lot on the Volga, created on the territory of the "Yaroslavl seaside", in the past seasons received several motor ships a day. And this is an additional thousands of travelers. Perhaps this season this flow will decrease, but we are ready to welcome tourists and will be glad to each of our guests.
In the Yaroslavl seaside infrastructure is developing: a golf course has appeared here, the work of an airfield is being organized. Have any new partners come to the resort, what is new expected?
- This season we will focus on the development of already open projects. Around the hotel, a unique infrastructure has really been created, which many can envy: a yacht club, a golf course, an airfield, an ethnic museum-village "Tygydym", a museum-smithy. We will try to make all projects as accessible and interesting as possible for guests.
Will there be any new accommodation facilities?
- At the beginning of July, we will offer a fundamentally new concept of accommodation in the Granville category - “room in the woods”. We are all accustomed to two types of accommodation outside the city - a detached cottage or a room in a hotel building. Rooms in the Granville category are modern comfortable studios (33 square meters) in a beautiful pine forest. Each Granville cottage has 2 rooms that can be combined if desired. The undoubted plus of each room is its own terrace, where you can drink tea surrounded by your family and the squirrels and birds from the Red Data Book living on the territory of the park-hotel. This is a unique offer for couples and families with one or two children who are no longer interested in a hotel room.
What is expected this year in the park-hotel "Bukhta-Koprino" in the field of leisure?
- I hope that we will be able to complete the construction of tennis courts and finally put into operation a playground for playing beach football. Let's be even more athletic and active! Of course, we will try to diversify children's leisure time.
Do you plan to update the menu card in the restaurants of the park-hotel? Tourists are very fond of the famous mushroom soup and fruit drink. Maybe there will be some new items? Do you plan to expand the organic menu, because healthy lifestyle is now in trend and organic products are becoming popular
- Now we are actively working with local organic brands of meat and dairy products "Ugleche Pole" and natural products "Iz Uglich", which are supplied to the park-hotel "Bukhta Koprino" by the agricultural holding "AgriVolga" from Uglich, providing stable supplies of high quality. We plan to further expand our cooperation and introduce new items in the menu. But, of course, the menu will also include the famous mushroom dishes for which the Yaroslavl land is so famous and which our guests are so fond of.
What audience are you planning to target the Park-hotel "Koprino Bay" to? Has the current crisis situation influenced this issue? Whom are you expecting to visit?
- Our guests are very different. People come to us to relax with children for a long stay, celebrate celebrations with large family and friendly companies, get married and hold corporate events. My main task is to make the rest comfortable for all guests, so that everyone can find entertainment for themselves. The hotel has a varied number of rooms and everyone can choose the best option for themselves. These are 42 cozy cottages with a fireplace on the ground floor. They can accommodate 6 to 12 people. Each cottage has its own adjacent territory with a barbecue, so that if you wish, you can relax in the fresh air with barbecue. There is a hotel with 17 rooms, for its guests there is a barbecue area. Departure "Kovcheg" - with rooms-cabins and views of the wide Volga. Or completely new Granville, which I have already talked about.
Will the pricing policy change due to the crisis? Maybe you will reduce the prices for accommodation? Will there be any promotions?
- Now the entire tourism industry lives in a zone of constant turbulence. I don’t want to guess anything, everything will depend on the release date from quarantine and the remaining demand. What we will not have for sure is a mindless price reduction. The reason is very simple: we will not be able to maintain the quality that guests are used to, and at the same time reduce the cost of living. Let's try to go the other way - to carry out targeted promotions for different groups of guests. For example: discount on long-term stays, even more attractive prices for accommodation from Sunday to Monday, promotions for the rental of conference rooms and restaurants.
Do you think that the number of motor ships' trips will decrease this season? How will you entertain tourists and guests who will arrive along the Volga? What new programs are you planning to attract?
- This season, I think, the number of flights will definitely decrease, primarily due to the lack of foreign tourists. But, as before, our Protected Forest, the Tygydym ethnic village and, of course, pristine beaches surrounded by unique ship pines will await our guests.
In the Protected Forest, paths with different surfaces have been laid with a total length of more than 8 km. This is a real open-air museum! In summer, you can ride bicycles or roller skates, breathing the air filled with pine scent, or just stroll slowly and admire the natural landscapes carefully preserved here.
What novelties or new conditions do you plan to offer for companies for holding corporate events?
- We plan to completely renovate the conference center by autumn. A large hall will appear, new meeting rooms with terraces and a view of the Volga. Now we are working on new interesting menu options.
One of the important features of the behavior of guests after a successful corporate event is that they return to our Park Hotel to have a rest, with their families. Park-hotel "Bukhta Koprino" is a unique product that you want to show to as many guests as possible.
What are your plans for the resort's operation in the summer and autumn-winter periods?
- I have already revealed all the cards about work in the summer, so it's time to move on to the autumn-winter period. Traditionally, tourists think that everything in central Russia dies in September, but this is not so. In addition to a comfortable stay, a large wellness center, a sauna complex, we offer our guests various options for outdoor activities: fishing, ATVs, snowmobiles. Many regular guests who live with us in summer, autumn and winter travel to Karelia and Scandinavia, forgetting that the Yaroslavl Region is a historical gateway to the Russian North. In addition, the gate is the nearest and more attractive in price.
I think this year, after a long period of life in self-isolation, we all want a maximum of movement, walks, air, new impressions, and rest in the park-hotel "Bukhta Koprino" on the Yaroslavl seaside is the best thing that you can give yourself, taking care of your health and mood.
