Tourists Massively Cancel Bookings for Holidays in Crimea

Photo: vecteezy.com

An RBC correspondent, who traveled from Moscow to Simferopol by "Tavria" train on June 9, testified that there were only one or two people in the coupe. The passengers themselves noted that during the start of ticket sales in March, tickets were sold out within the first half hour.

Elena Shtringel, director of the tour operator "TourEthno," reported that 80% of booked arrivals for June are being canceled, and about 50% for July-August. According to her, although the company fulfilled 60-70% of its plan by the May holidays, there is now a massive rollback, despite a small number of new bookings for the end of summer.

A representative of another tour company noted that organizations in the sector are now forced to spend resources they intended to live on during winter. "We have already spent more in six months than we earned," he admitted.

Dmitry Tkachenko, a representative of the "Rassvety-Zakaty" hotel in Bakhchysarai district, said that over the 10 days of the fuel crisis, the number of cancellations exceeded the figure for the entire previous year. The hotel's occupancy averages 30% instead of the planned 65-70%. Owners of guesthouses near Alushta faced similar problems, with 90% of June bookings canceled (only one out of ten tourists arrives).

Hoteliers and operators must refund customers the full cost of services, but this is not always possible. For example, the owner of one of the guesthouses spent the advance payments received on renovating the building, and now simply does not have the funds to settle with people.

Crimean winemaker Oleg Repin reported that over the past week, about 70-80% of clients canceled their bookings for excursions to his farm, citing objective reasons. The same situation is observed among his acquaintances, restaurateurs and hoteliers.

Against this backdrop, Sergey Romashkin, Vice-President of the Russian Union of Tourism Industry, stated that since the beginning of the year, Crimea had shown a year-on-year growth of 10-15%, so even with the current cancellations, the half-year surplus will remain at 11-12%.

Problems with Logistics and Fuel Tanker Drivers

Amid drone strikes on trucks on the so-called "Novorossiya" highway (the "land bridge" to Crimea), serious problems have arisen with recruiting drivers for heavy goods vehicles. This information was confirmed by sources in the fuel market. To reduce risks, trucks on this route have been allowed to accelerate up to 100 km/h, and the trucks themselves now travel escorted by military vehicles with armed guards.

In May, Ukraine sharply increased the number of strikes on Russian trucks on key logistics routes in the occupied territories, as well as on bridges leading to Crimea. According to an analysis by OSINT analyst Clement Malin, since the beginning of May, at least 415 trucks have been attacked and no fewer than six bridges damaged.

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