Regional Russia has several advantages for hotel developers in the form of a lack of quality hotel accommodation, sky-high prices for western-standard rooms, a vacant three-star segment, the forthcoming 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, low salaries and the decreasing cost of construction.

"Having a brand for a hotel is almost always beneficial, but putting an international brand name to your hotel in Russia could be invaluable," comments co-author Saurabh Chawla, Associate Director at HVS London. "Having a brand not only lets you benefit from its distribution channels, but also creates a reassuring perception of security and higher standards, which are much-needed in regional Russia," he added.

The report also includes a special survey with major international brands to assist hotel developers in establishing whether their project is in line with the development strategy of an international brand.

"Large cities such as Samara, Yekaterinburg and Nizhni Novgorod have considerable hotel pipelines, but population figures alone are not the only indicator for a healthy hotel market", adds co-author Elke Geieregger, Senior Associate at HVS London. "And some larger cities should still be approached with more caution."

Tatiana Veller, managing director of HVS Executive Search Moscow, adds her perspective of the labour market in regional Russia, highlighting the challenge to find adequately skilled personnel for a regional hotel opening.

"Western brands are used to having a wide range of hotel graduates apply for the low and mid-management positions for a hotel opening, simply by posting some information online. Not so in Russia," she notes. "And beware of the disparity in salaries between hotel employees in Moscow and regional Russia, and with the rest of the world – the differences are huge".

"The Russian Hotel Market: Race for the Regions" examines the hot (and cold) race tracks, who is racing with whom and the expectations of those in the driviner's seat.

Please click the link to dowload a free copy of the report www.hvs.com/Jump/?f=2938.pdf&c=4232