The current situation in the port of Saint Petersburg, one of the main stops for the world’s cruise liners, is as follows: anyone can cross the border. Even if legally one can only do it for 72 hours, the accent here is on the word ‘anyone’.
The brand new Marine Façade terminal in Saint Petersburg boasts souvenir shops, taxi stands, has clean toilets (not a minor detail) and ATM machines. At a closer examination one does find the leaking roofs, automatic doors that don’t open and taxis that refuse to take you places. And then there is a lady puffing away on a cigarette while directing visitors to the immigrations booths. Charming. Nevertheless, Marine Facade has ensured that international cruise liners are selling North and Baltic Sea cruises very well and in 2009 has welcomed the majority of cruise line tourists arriving in Russia’s so called ‘Northern Capital’ or more commonly Saint Petersburg. It is of the main attractions of the Baltic and Northern sea cruises and does have a lot to offer.
However, recently the situation has changed and not for the better. Con artists are not only putting in jeopardy this business, which is very profitable for the city, but also putting lives at risk.
The tour packages normally offered by the licensee brokers are now on sale for the fraction of the cost on the Internet offered by the people posing to be real brokers. It is worth mentioning that in compliance with security regulations between the cruise company and the contracted tour operator, every tourist can be allocated at any moment, which provides certain security assurance. The so-called Internet brokers do not have this ability. Some of the cruise line tourists do choose to save money and buy the ‘Internet deals’. And this alright if they are a couple from Oklahoma. But they could easily be a man or a woman from Pakistan, even if with an American or British passport, with an agenda other than to admire to views of St Petersburg beautiful bridges and the masterpieces of Hermitage. With the well-oiled machine of the tour brokers there is enough information to feel relatively safe and certain about the destinations and goals of the tourists, while with the pretend brokers there is none.
This is a serious security breach especially in the world where, statistically, most people are very concerned about the terror threats. In America the question stands on how the so-called Christmas bomber managed to get on the flight to the US, when the Secret Service has already flagged his name. In most countries these kinds of mistakes, which may result in a tremendous loss of life, are treated very seriously. In Russia, or namely in Putin and Medvedev’s home town of Saint Petersburg, which they claim to still have a lot of affection for, the situation is different. The cheap deals offered to tourists on the Internet allow them to freely enter the country, without the hassle of the background checks and additional information. Thus, the practically non-existent control over exactly who comes into their country.
The level of corruption in Russia fools no one, especially where small and medium size businesses are concerned. The current situation with the ‘arrangement’ of some of the tour agencies servicing the cruise liners hints at the fact that someone in a very powerful position acts as their cover, for a substantial monetary benefit of course.
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