The authorities have calculated how many tourists Crimea lost on New Year's due to the lack of air traffic
Crimea's tourist flow in 2022 totaled 6,5 million people, including 177 during the New Year holidays. These figures were cited by Crimean Governor Sergei Aksyonov, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
According to his information, the average occupancy of accommodation facilities was 60%, and of a number of facilities – more than 80%. The occupancy rate of large resort complexes on New Year's Eve exceeded 90%.
As one would expect, eight out of ten tourists arrived via the Crimean Bridge by car and bus, and the railway took over a fifth of the tourist flow.
The moratorium on air travel and traffic jams on the Crimean Bridge cost the resort industry almost 90 thousand guests during the New Year holidays - 2022 thousand tourists welcomed 265 in Crimea, compared to 177 thousand in 2023. Former Deputy Minister of Tourism of Crimea Lyudmila Babiy said on Radio Crimea that the main New Year's tourist is a resident of Crimea who took advantage of discounts and promotions in hotels on the peninsula.
“We had a complete lack of train tickets to Crimea during the New Year holidays for another month, but the bulk of the guests were Crimeans who decided to spend the holidays actively, and not at home in front of the TV with a bowl of Olivier,” says Babiy.
According to her, a similar situation developed in the Krasnodar Territory, where hotels were booked for 2-3 days, which is usually done by local residents. While Sochi, which has the only operating airport in the south of Russia and the Krasnaya Polyana ski resort, gathered a traditional full house.