A chain of Russian hotels in the city of Kaliningrad has seen the recent interest in people with regards to cryptocurrency. They are hoping to capitalize on this trend during the 2018 Fifa World Cup. The hotels are hoping to lure in football fanatics, who also happens to be crypto enthusiasts to stay at their hotel by incorporating a cryptocurrency based payment processing system.
Anna Subbotina, who is the manager of Apartments Malina, has stated her confidence regarding the use of digital payments based on blockchain technology. She cited that this innovative move will excite users into using their hotel services. Besides Apartment Malina, many more hotels based in Kaliningrad are also expected to offer cryptocurrency as a mode of payment for fans and travelers of the world event.
The city is currently anticipating an influx of football fans, and travellers, since Kaliningrad stadium will be hosting the matches from 16th to 18th June, which will encompass Groups B, D, E, and G. Important matches that fans will be eagerly waiting on includes, England and Belgium along with matches between Croatia and Nigeria, Serbia and Switzerland, Spain and Morocco.
Now, in order to offer crypto-payments to their visitors, Malina Apartments has partnered up with Free-Kassa, which is a popular electronic payment provider in Russia. Vitality Lavrov, who is the Development Manager of the service supplier, has shown excitement following the current events as this is the first time they will be working with a hotel, and it is interesting as the “hospitality industry is quite sensitive towards new trends.”
Besides all this, it is worth noting that rates for accommodation have spiked, as is the case always during any world event. According to PR Director at Aviasales Travel, Yanis Dzenis, Kaliningrad is one currently of the priciest destinations in Russia. For example, if you are planning to spend the night final group stage game between England and Belgium, then any one of the city hotels can charge you as much as 18,000 RUB (over USD 300).