Kirill Rodin, Director for Government Affairs of the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center of the Russian Federation, said that the occupied Crimea is the most popular tourist destination within Russia this year. But is it?
“Crimea is the most popular tourist destination within the country. If possible, 24% of Russians would visit the peninsula. 17% would go to the Krasnodar Territory. Also, the top five included Baikal (14%), Altai (13%) and Sochi (11%)”,- he said at a press conference at the press center of the Russia Today news agency.
Chairman of the State Council of Crimea Vladimir Konstantinov said that up to 6 million tourists are expected in Crimea this year, despite the lack of air traffic. Although the president of the National Union of the Russian Hospitality Industry, Alexei Volkov, at the same time claims that due to the cancellation of flights in the first month of summer, massive cancellations of bookings in the hotels of the peninsula for the whole of May and June followed
“Hotels are occupied by 40-45% for the summer, and in some booking sites they reach 60%. But for now, the tourists expect that air traffic with Crimea will be opened. To date, massive cancellations of bookings for May and June have been recorded due to airlines sending messages about flight cancellations”,- he said.
Moreover, there is already some experience. According to the newspaper Kommersant, the May holidays gave a record low occupancy of Crimean hotels – only 10-15%. Will something really change and people will want to visit the Crimea, where they regularly hear and see Russian aircraft, including above the beaches?