Rocco Forte Hotels has opened a sales office in Moscow to build upon an increase in Russian guests at its properties in St Petersburg, the UK, Italy, and Belgium.
The group, which has just taken over Brown's hotel in London, is also looking to buy a hotel in Moscow as most visitors to Russia travel to both Moscow and St Petersburg.
The Moscow sales office - which joins sales offices in London and New York - will be headed up by Elena Demidova, who has spent five years in sales and marketing at the group's Hotel Astoria in St Petersburg.
A spokesman said the biggest increase has been seen at its two hotels in St Petersburg. The number of rooms sold to Russian guests has grown by 20% in the past year, thanks to the improving domestic economy.
The biggest overseas increase has been at the Hotel de Russie in Rome, where Russians now account for 3% of room sales, up from 1% last year. The Balmoral in Edinburgh has doubled its sales to Russians, which now average three bookings per week.
The spokesman added that the Russian guests tended to be high-spending entrepreneurs and businessmen who bought suites and represented about 5% of the group's total business by revenue.