"We live by the sea, give money"

Experts claim to reduce the tourist flow from Russia to Crimea and believe that this trend will last the entire "high" season. According to the Russian Union of Trade, a decrease in the flow of tourists by 30 percent is associated with poor weather and high cost of air tickets, which, compared to 2016, have risen in price by one and a half times.

Due to adverse weather conditions, fewer tourists go to the Krasnodar Territory, Anapa, Sochi, Abkhazia. Experts associate this with stabilizing the foreign currency and the discovery of Turkey, which this year offered Russian tourists unprecedented discounts for rest.

In 2016, the flow of tourists in Crimea grew by 21% and amounted to almost 5.6 million people. Encouraged tour operators and hoteliers raised prices for the next season - despite the warnings of the Association of Russian Tour operators (ATOR) that the prices for the next season are overstated and the hotels will have to announce discounts so as not to lose customers.

Travel business experts also talk about the increase in the cost of transportation in Crimea at 15–20% compared to last year. The average “back and round-trip” check for July-August this year is more expensive than the same period last year by 19% and is 17.8 thousand rubles. The increase in ticket prices may be associated with the abolition of charter flights to Simferopol Avia-Avia Airlines.

Compared to last year, the tourist flow to the Crimea decreased by 12-15 percent. This conclusion was reached by analysts by the Association of Russian Tour operators who studied the demand for an organized rest. The main reason for the fall of interest in the Crimea is high prices and the opening of Turkish resorts that offer Russians an inexpensive and high -quality rest.

Evpatoria, Crimea, June 15, 2017

According to the Executive Director of Ator Maya Lomidze, the difference between Crimea and Turkey is obvious: for a week's rest in the Crimean hotel, only with breakfast a Russian tourist will pay 20-22 thousand rubles. And this is without air transfer. Rest in the Turkish hotel 3-4 stars according to the All -inclusive system with a flight will cost on average 25–35 thousand rubles. This should make Crimean businessmen reduce vacation prices, Lomidze believes:

By the middle of the season, prices will decline

- The decrease in prices for individual objects has already begun, and we predicted it. When our resorts will understand that price raising does not help increase the flow, prices will decrease by the middle of the season. So far, a decrease in market prices is 5-7 percent, it is not total and is designed for independent travelers who have already paid for their vacation, Maya Lomidze says.

Tourists who have chosen Turkey are now enjoying good weather, a warm sea and a comfortable rest. A resident of Nizhny Novgorod, Alexander Yuminov, and his wife bought a ticket to a five -star hotel near Alanya - there are several pools, terraces and verandas with views of the sea, the famous Turkish system "All inclusive" - breakfast, dinner, late dinner and night food. The hotel is filled with Russian tourists, there are guests from Kazakhstan and very few Germans, says Alexander. He had no reason to complain about the indecent behavior of compatriots, and the music at the hotel struck him - there is absolutely no Russian “pop”. All this pleasure, including transfer and flight, cost it 73 thousand rubles in 9 days. The tourists did not notice any special security measures that the Turkish side promised to accept.

Türkiye, May 2017

Meanwhile, due to cool weather, the beaches of Crimea are empty. The journalist Radio Liberty, Anton Mesnyanko, living in Sevastopol, says that the air and water temperature in the sea is no more than 20 degrees, which greatly reduced the number of tourists in Sevastopol. The same picture is in Feodosia, Sudak, Koktebel, Yevpatoria. The unsuccessful start of the season is another reason to talk about the poor service and high prices for products, which are complained not only by tourists, but also by local residents:

Product prices are higher than in Moscow

- Product prices are higher than Moscow. Milk, oil, fruits - everything is very expensive. This is explained by complex logistics, says Anton, - everything is imported through the ferry, but at the same time the shops are still wound, write it off to logistics, but people have nowhere to go - they still have to buy. And gasoline here is more expensive than on the mainland of Russia. This affects all other prices. Recently, acquaintances compared prices in Crimea with prices in the Kherson region and even in Kyiv, and there, of course, the prices of vegetables and fruits are two times lower. Everything is very expensive for us.

- Will they reduce vacation prices in Crimea?

Local hoteliers will sit with half -empty hotels, and prices will not lower

-I have not heard about some megask in the Crimean hotels. Maybe they reduce something for organized tourists, but little by little. And it is necessary to take into account Crimean psychology (and it was always the case here) - the prices for everything are overstated, and no one wants to do anything. People just put a high price tag - we live in Crimea, we live by the sea, come and give us our money. And at the same time, no one wants to do absolutely anything to improve the service, maintenance, create infrastructure. Given this greed, I can predict that local hoteliers will prefer to sit with half -empty hotels than to reduce prices or create additional conditions to attract people. This is such a Crimean line that has been at all times.

Trade in Yevpatoria, June 15, 2017

An employee of one of Koktebel’s travel agencies Konstantin Borzov helps Russians book housing in Crimea. According to his observations, this year there were much less tourists-due to bad weather, high prices for rest and the fall of the income of the Russians themselves. However, the agency is not going to reduce prices in the summer season - the prices for utilities are rising, and the summer season is too short, Konstantin says:

Who wanted to go to Crimea - went last year and put a checkmark

- According to my feelings, tourists have become less than 30, but all 40 percent. There are fewer customers, we began to earn less. My opinion is the one who wanted to go to the Crimea, went last year and set a checkmark. The next time he will go when getting here will not be so problematic. A plane tickets are expensive, it is not easy to get by vehicles. It is necessary to defend the turn on the ferry. Permanent customers who can afford to stay in Yalta, at the Intourist, go. And new tourists do not go due to the financial situation or choose cheaper Egypt and Turkey, Konstantin believes. According to him, the choice of housing in Koktebel, whose beaches in July-August will still be clogged to the eyeballs, is quite diverse: you can rent a number for one and a half thousand rubles per person per day, and for 300 rubles (economy options), and apartments of 360 square meters for 14 thousand a day. None of the locals will reduce vacation prices, according to Constantine.

Evpatoria, June 2017

Last year, the service in the Crimea was praised - the old furniture, there is no repairs, but the owners are welcoming

Oksana Shustikova, co -founder of the development and co -founder of the Tvil.ru project, noted that the attendance of the resource in which people are booking a vacation in the Crimea and the Krasnodar Territory, compared to last year, decreased by five percent. But the number of tourists who book the vacation increased. 41 percent of tourists who entered the site go to the Krasnodar Territory, 59 percent to Crimea. The average cost of housing in the Crimea increased, and in the Krasnodar Territory, on the observation of Oksana, slightly decreased. Complaints from tourists, according to her, are not coming. In June of this year, tourists complained about dirty beaches in Jubka and Tuapse, and last year they praised the service in the Crimea very much - the hosts tried to smooth out the old furniture and the lack of repairs with cordiality. And in Sochi and Adler, the hosts were less friendly, visitors to the resource noted.

Part of Russian tourists, who remained this year without rest in Egypt, chooses Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria and Cyprus. At the same time, more than 80% of the inhabitants of Russia, according to the Levada Center, does not plan a foreign vacation this year and is not going to visit popular foreign resorts. Most Russians who prefer to relax at sea in the summer will go to Crimea and the Krasnodar Territory.