Moscow is the city of 'delayed tourist interest"

'Moscow is the city of delayed tourist's interest', believes Sergey Shpil'ko the chairman of the city's Tourism Committee. Many researches indicate, that some potential foreign tourists who would like to visit the Russian capital, postpone it, because believe that it is dangerous, expensive and unwelcoming. Much of those notions are just myths.

The Moscow police statistics reported only of 24 crimes against foreign tourists in 2009. While the statistics may not count much of the petty crime, like pickpocketing, still, the level of the crime against tourists may be even lower, then in major European tourist centres, like London or Paris.

Another myth is the expensive hotels. While Moscow has some of the most expensive hotels in Europe, still there are hotels and hostels with the cost of overnight stay around ?12-13 per day.

Yet another misconception says, that the Muscovites do not speak English. Actually many people of younger generations do speak foreign languages nowadays, and the Moscow authorities have started placing additional signs in English on the city streets.