Survey Finds Moscow Most Costly European City

<H1>Survey Finds Moscow Most Costly European City</H1><H3>By Amon Cohen</H3>Moscow - Moscow is the most expensive European city to visit and is second worldwide only to Tokyo, according to new research.

A 24-hour stay in the Russian capital costs $478.90, according to a survey from ECA International, a global membership network of expatriate employers. That puts it just behind Tokyo, which has a per diem of $493.85. Prices are based on cost of accommodation in a four-star hotel, continental breakfast, laundry, lunch and dinner, alcoholic and soft drinks, incidental costs and two five-mile taxi journeys.

The third most expensive business centers of Frankfurt and London are far cheaper, registering daily rates of $338.67 and $327.60, respectively. Even cheaper is the least expensive of the 75 major cities surveyed, Bombay, which works out to $158.54 per 24 hours.

ECA International's findings concur with those of Hogg Robinson Business Travel International, which also gave Tokyo and Moscow the top two rankings in a survey of hotel costs published earlier this year. The average rate negotiated by Hogg for its clients in Tokyo was $159.58, followed by $153.24 for Moscow.

However, according to ECA, at $284 per night Moscow is even more expensive for accommodation than Tokyo.

ECA International client services executive Andrea Poulton said that Moscow's per diem was 5 percent higher than when the survey was conducted last year and was set to rise still further.

"Demand for facilities is still outpacing the rate at which they can be provided," she said. "There is no sign of Moscow becoming cheaper; if anything, it is the opposite. The situation is becoming more and more volatile."

But travel managers need not despair. <I>BTN</I> spoke to two experts on travel in the region and asked them for tips on how to bring down the cost of traveling in Russia.

"For the business traveler who does not speak Russian and cannot navigate beyond the hard currency economy, this is an expensive city to visit," said Greg Milbourne, Moscow-based Eastern Europe sales manager for Rosenbluth International.

Milbourne noted that there are pros and cons to staying at Russian hotels. On one hand, local properties "are starting to come down in price and to raise their standards, whereas monopoly pricing still exists at the Western-style properties," said Milbourne. However, he acknowledges that there are problems with using Russian hotels-principally that they are not bookable via computer reservations systems and are difficult to contact unless you have an agent on the ground. In addition, he said that security was better at Western hotels. Unsurprising moral: Use a good travel agent that really knows the city.

In spite of their disadvantages, Russian hotels also are recommended by Mary McDonagh, general manager of Worldmark, a travel company specializing in Eastern Europe that is owned by Hogg Robinson, Epic Travel (Moscow) and BTI Polska (Poland).

"The Intourist is right in the city center," McDonagh said. "It does not have fantastic decor, but if you are just going to be putting your head down for the night, it is much better value at $55 per night than the Western hotels, which charge a tax of 22.5 percent."

McDonagh also counsels checking the price of the journey before getting inside the vehicle and using only those vehicles approved by the hotel.

If a travel manager is sending a group of employees-even a small one-to Moscow, it is worth hiring your own limousine and driver, from an economic as well as a security perspective, she advised.