Interest in holidays to Sochi this year has surged as the city celebrates hosting a surprisingly successful Winter Olympics.

It is thought that the buzz of the Games (as opposed to the city's monkey nursery,“discreet and welcoming” strip clubs or Joseph Stalin's old summer house) contributed to a 778 per cent rise in hotel searches for the Russian Riviera destination compared to the previous year.

With the Paralympic Games still to come, the general consensus is that Sochi's role as Olympic host was not nearly as catastrophic as it could have been. Putting the occasional toilet mishap, the very public whipping of Pussy Riot protesters and the times when it was warm enough for shorts on the slopes aside, the region's reputation has never been better.

In the run up to the Games, Russia's deputy minister of culture Alla Manilova said Sochi would enlighten the world of Russia's tourism potential . Research by Hotels.com suggests she was right.

According to the website, searches for stays in the city between March and September of this year are up by 778 per cent in Finland, 552 per cent in America and 486 per cent in Italy. Searches in the UK are only up by a comparatively slender 183 per cent, while searches within Russia are up 416 per cent.

However, the search data is taken from the last 90 days, which suggests that the title of host city raised the profile of Sochi, rather than the success of the Winter Olympics.

Kate Hopcraft, of Hotels.com, said: “Sport is such a powerful influence on our travel plans and our figures show the recent Winter Olympics have really put Sochi on the map.

“Sochi was, until recently, a relatively unknown destination, but has so much to offer visitors, including beaches, museums, two aquariums and even a zoo.”

The city is also less than an hour from the Mountain Cluster – the four ski resorts that hosted the Winter Olympic ski and snowboard events.

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