Cost of the summer Crimea: tourism industry experts talked about the pricing of vacations

What is actually the cost of a vacation in Crimea at the peak of the season, and how the pricing is formed, experts of the tourism industry told Travel Crimea Portal.

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Since the beginning of the year, the flow of tourists to Crimea has grown by 53.3% compared to the same period of 2019, which was the record-breaking year. As of June 1, almost 2 million tourists have already arrived in Crimea. In May alone, there were 66% more tourists on the peninsula than in May 2019. Accordingly, the occupancy of the hotels and health resorts also increased: in May, on average, it exceeded 65%, in some regions − 85%, while in 2019 only about 40% of the accommodation facilities were occupied during this period.

At the same time, the tourist flow to Crimea is growing annually and in the past few years the growth of occupancy rate was quite serious due to the development of infrastructure, new accommodation facilities, tourist products and beach areas. From 2017 to 2019 alone, the number of tourists increased by 38%, up to 7.43 million people.

High occupancy rate even at the beginning of the summer

The demand for Crimea keeps on growing steadily every year. At the same time, vacation here is really affordable for any wallet, especially if you plan it in advance.

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"The Black Sea resorts are in high demand. And there are several reasons for this: the vacation season, the cashback program, popular foreign destinations closed. Usually only by the end of June, the occupancy of hotels increases, but this year high occupancy is already at the very beginning," said Ilya Umansky, Vice President of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR), Director-General of the Alean national tour operator.

The main sales were in winter and spring, when many hotels and health resorts offered holidays in Crimea under the ‘early booking’ promotion with discounts ranging from 15% to even 40%. Such tempting offers yielded the result: tourists, who prefer to plan their vacation in advance, gladly accepted such advantageous promotions. In addition, they were able to choose without haste and fuss the hotel or health resort that suits them the most.

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According to Tamara Chernykh, Director-General of the UPRO GROUP Russian Hotel Management Company, the first month of the summer can be safely described as successful.

"The early booking campaign started in 2021 with almost the same prices as in previous years. The difference was only 6-7%. In general, the base volume of booking for the June is quite large − from 65 to 80% of rooms were booked in our various hotels. Plus, there was cashback, which became an additional attractive incentive," Tamara Chernykh noted.

Besides, for 2021 a large number of bookings were postponed from 2020 (when hotels and a health resorts were unavailable during the lockdown) and sometimes even at the prices of 2019.

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This was also confirmed by the FAS (Federal Antimonopoly Service): according to their data, 80% of hotels in Crimea were booked in advance for the summer back in February-March, and mass violations related to the cancellation of hotel and tour bookings by the hoteliers in order to offer them later at a higher price, was not revealed.

There were no total price increases

Of course, according to the laws of the market economy, the most popular, attractively priced rooms were bought out first.

"As of today, only luxury rooms are unsold in 4-5* hotels. And, taking into account that demand is increasing, in accordance with dynamic pricing, the price for the remaining rooms has increased, since in general there is not enough hotels of the premium segment in Crimea," said Minister of Resorts and Tourism of the Republic of Crimea Vadim Volchenko.

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According to him, there is only one evolutionary and effective solution to this issue − competition, which needs to be created through the renovation and repair of the existing accommodation facilities, the launch of those which are still closed, and the construction of new ones.

According to the market participants opinion, surveyed by Travel Crimea, the price increase in the economy segment is often recorded within the inflation rate of 5-7%, in health resorts, as a rule, the prices of 2019 still apply.

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"There are very decent 3-star accommodation facilities in Crimea. For example, a very decent double room price is 3.5 thousand rubles ($47). In my opinion, this is more than an affordable price," said Natalya Osipova, director of the Alliance of Travel Agencies.

"The bulk of holidaymakers are those who stay in mid- and economy-class hotels. Fundamental price increases, that would have forced the tourist to abandon the trip, did not occur," Ilya Umansky emphasizes.
Andrey Pylov, director of the Crimean Tour Ethno tour operator company, confirms the words of his colleagues about the increased demand. At the same time, he emphasizes that the price/quality ratio is of great importance.

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"The general trend is that demand is good. If a hotel has confirmed its quality, then it can raise the price. The main thing is not to do this in excess of the market price level, otherwise sales will simply stop. Many people would like to relax, but not at any price. There are hotels that, on the contrary, seeing that they have gone too far, begin to reduce prices. Demand should be watched – the solvent demand," Andrey Pylov is convinced.

Crimea is in the lead

ATOR analysts called Crimea a leader in the rating of the Black Sea resorts that offer the most economy holidays in mid-June. According to them, with a departure date of June 10-16, you can purchase a tour for two for 26 thousand rubles ($347): for 10 nights, with air transfer included. In terms of affordability, Crimea is followed by Sochi and Anapa, where tours cost 30 and 32 thousand rubles ($400-427), respectively.

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According to the Tutu.ru service, in June the average price for round trip airline tickets Moscow — Simferopol is 10.6 thousand rubles ($141). Also, the Crimean capital is in the TOP-3 in terms of flights from St. Petersburg, with an approximate ticket price of 18 thousand rubles ($240).

In general, this summer, according to the service analysts, Crimea firmly occupied the first line in the rating among Moscow and St. Petersburg tourists. But prices differ. The average price of flight from Moscow to Simferopol is 6.7 thousand rubles ($90), from St.Petersburg − almost 10 thousand rubles ($133).

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As for the railway trips, in June the average ticket price for the Moscow — Simferopol train is 6.6 thousand rubles ($88), St. Petersburg — Simferopol — 4.9 thousand rubles ($65), Moscow — Theodosia — 3.3 thousand rubles ($44). If we talk about summer vacations in general, then Simferopol and Theodosia were in the rating of the top-ranked train trips from Moscow with an average ticket price of 6.8 and 3.1 thousand rubles respectively ($90 and 41), from St. Petersburg to Simferopol and Eupatoria tickets price is about 5 thousand rubles ($67).