According to Vadim Volchenko, the minister of Resorts and Tourism of Crimea, 32,200 thousand tourists spent their vacations in the Republic from February 28 to March 9, which is 12.5% higher than for the same period in 2019. Of this figure 66% of tourists arrived over the Crimean Bridge by automobiles and busses, 4% — by train, 28% — chose a plane, 2% — crossed the border with Ukraine.
During the holidays in March most of the tourists — 66% — stayed on the South Coast of Crimea, 13% — on the West Coast, 7% — on the East Coast, 14% — in other regions (Simferopol, Simferopol and Bakhchisaray districts), the minister said in a comment to the Russia-24 TV channel. He also emphasized that in any difficult situation the global travel industry may face, vacations in one's own country will provide the most important advantage.
"We understand that the general political and geopolitical situation can theoretically contribute to this. But the thesis that we have been promoting for several years is: "Recreating in your own country is safe, comfortable and economical". Especially when it comes to family leisure, it is difficult to overestimate the advantages of Crimea", — the minister of Resorts and Tourism of the Republic of Crimea noted.
Increasing demand for Crimea among Russians is also noted by tour operators in the South of Russia. According to them, at the moment, the increase in early booking of vacations in the region is almost 100% higher than last year.
"We see a significant increase — almost 100% compared to the same period last year. These are mainly reservations for the summer period. That is, according to our data, the umber of bookings for vacations in Crimea does not fall, but, on the contrary, it increases", — said Oksana Bulakh, director of "Alean" travel company.
Director of the "TourEthno" company Andrei Pylov noted that the launch of new trains to Crimea contributed to the active booking for the May holidays among residents of Moscow and St. Petersburg, as well as the cities with which railway traffic will start this spring.
"At the moment, we note a growth in demand for Crimea. Mostly among the people from regions where there are no problems with transport logistics and it is easier to get to Crimea. This year there are many who want to come to Sevastopol, which is associated with the celebration of the Great Victory, and there is also traditionally a great demand for holidays on the South Coast of Crimea", — said Andrei Pylov.
According to Alexei Zalivin, the representative of "BiblioGlobus" tour operator, booking a vacation in Crimea is quite "deep". "Our main season begins approximately from June 10, so we expect the next wave of active booking in May", — he said.
"Bookings every day, no cancellations, guests also pay extra for early bookings. Reservations are actively made for May, June. For July and August more than 75% of the rooms are already booked. I wish us all to continue working at the same pace, Crimea wecomes and awaits guests!”, — noted the hotelier Ekaterina Khmelnitskaya.
The region’s authorities are cautiously optimistic about the upcoming season and monitor the quality of services prepared for tourists.
"We are cautiously optimistic for this season. The main thing is our readiness in terms of the quality of tourist accommodation, we have to finalize all the moments associated with the service, we are now tuned to this. All hotels, museums, tourist facilities, restaurants and bars, sports and medical infrastructure are ready and operate without any restrictions. Booking requests keep coming even for October; logistic capabilities are expanded like never before. But we monitor the situation daily, with hoteliers and tour operators on a direct hot line", — said the minister of Resorts and Tourism of Crimea Vadim Volchenko.