Crimea expects a record influx of tourists and raises prices
Moscow - Simferopol, March 31 (PolitNavigator, Mikhail Shtamm) – This year, the government abandoned the idea of sending state-owned company employees en masse to Crimean resorts. The peninsula is expecting an influx of tourists even without orders from above, Kommersant reports.
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The local Ministry of Resorts and Tourism reported that this year the federal authorities refused to recommend state-owned companies to organize a massive flow of tourists to Crimea. This year there will be no federal targeted program for loading the peninsula’s tourism infrastructure.
Positive forecasts for the upcoming summer season eliminated the need to stimulate tourism. According to a recent statement by the Minister of Resorts and Tourism of Crimea Elena Yurchenko, in 2015 the tourist flow in the region should increase by 7,4%, to 4,3 million people. The head of Rostourism, Oleg Safonov, stated that he expects growth by 25%, to 5 million people.
According to the executive director of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR), Maya Lomidze, the demand for trips to Crimea has tripled: people are no longer afraid of the war on the peninsula. The ban on Russian security forces to vacation abroad also had an effect: after all, in Russia, except for the resorts of Kuban and Crimea, there are no warm seas.
But an unpleasant surprise for tourists will be a sharp rise in prices. Holidays in Crimea were 30% lower than at resorts in the Krasnodar Territory. Now this difference has been reduced to 5-10%.
Crimea expects a record influx of tourists and raises prices.