In July, the number of tourists in Crimea decreased by 45%

The number of booked hotels in the annexed Crimea in the second half of July decreased by 45% compared to the first half of the month. Hotels are loaded on average by 50-60% and reduce prices, trying to attract new vacationers. This was reported by the Kommersant newspaper, which spoke to representatives of the tourism business in the region.

The manager of the hotel management company Upro Group, Ekaterina Mylchynskaya, considers 2023 to be the most difficult year in terms of sales, occupancy of hotels and the economy in Crimea. According to Elena Pecheritsa, commercial director of the Ribera Resort & SPA hotel, the price reduction in hotels in July reaches 25%. She considers transport problems and the fear of many tourists, especially families with children, for their safety as the reason for such a sharp drop in demand.

This spring and summer, Crimea was repeatedly attacked by Ukrainian drones. At the end of April, a drone attacked an oil depot in Sevastopol. On the night of May 7, more than 10 UAVs were shot down over the peninsula. On the night of July 19, as a result of a drone raid, an ammunition warehouse in the district of Stary Krym caught fire, and on July 22, a military airfield in the Krasnogvardei district caught fire.

The Krymskyi (Kerchenskyi) bridge connecting the annexed peninsula with the Krasnodar region has been subjected to devastating attacks twice since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. On October 8, 2022, as a result of the detonation of a truck with explosives, part of a bridge collapsed and a train carrying petroleum products overheated, several people died. On July 17 of this year, the bridge was attacked again – presumably by unmanned boats. Traffic on the bridge is now limited. Those who want to get from Russia to Crimea are offered to go through “new territories” – that’s how Russia calls the occupied parts of Ukraine.