The Alliance of Travel agencies of Russia warned about the rise in prices of holidays in Sochi

Booking of tours to Crimea has fallen by 50% compared to last yea

The Alliance of Travel agencies of Russia warned about the rise in prices of holidays in Sochi.
Holidays in Sochi will rise in price by 20-30% compared to last year against the background of falling interest of Russians in the Crimea, the Alliance of Travel Agencies of Russia (ATA) told Izvestia.
According to ATA Vice President Aleksan Mkrtchyan, booking of tours to Crimea has fallen by 50% compared to last year. This was due to logistical difficulties: the closure of Simferopol airport, the difficulties of crossing the Crimean Bridge and the insufficient number of railway flights.
The decline in Russian interest in the peninsula has affected the cost of holidays at another popular resort — Sochi. Last year, prices increased by 40%, and this year they will increase by 20-30%, Mkrtchyan believes.
According to the forecast of the ATA Vice-President, ten days of summer vacation in a four-star hotel with three meals a day in Sochi will cost two tourists an average of 220 thousand rubles. For the same price (including flights and the all inclusive option), Russians can relax in Turkey or Egypt, Mkrtchyan noted.
Last summer, the head of Crimea Sergey Aksenov called the peninsula "the most affected region in terms of tourism." In June, more than 815 thousand tourists arrived in Crimea, and the average occupancy rate of hotels was about 50%. Most of all, the decline in indicators was affected by the closure of Simferopol airport, Aksenov noted.
The tourist flow to the peninsula began to decline at the beginning of last year: according to Rosstat, in January—March, the number of guests in accommodation facilities was almost 35% lower than a year earlier — only 185.7 thousand people. In May, about 330 thousand vacationers arrived on the peninsula — 37% less than in May 2021, when the tourist flow set a 30-year record (520 thousand people).