The results of the summer season in the resorts of the Black Sea coast were modest due to traffic jams and floods

Despite the positive dynamics of the domestic tourism market, the results of the summer season in the resorts of the Black Sea coast this year were modest. Due to cold June and floods in the south of the country, as well as traffic jams on the Crimean bridge due to a series of explosions, the flow of tourists to the peninsula decreased by 25-30%, to the Krasnodar Territory it increased by only 5-6%. The tourist industry is counting on good results of the “velvet season”, although last year it turned out to be a failure.

Russian Black Sea resorts this season failed to noticeably increase the tourist flow compared to last year. According to Sergey Romashkin, vice-president of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, in the first eight months of the year, 3.7-3.9 million tourists will visit Crimea, which is 25-30% less year-on-year, Krasnodar Territory – 11-12 million (an increase of only 5–6%). Alean says that the number of bookings in Crimea this summer has halved, in Sochi it has grown by 5%.

Similar calculations for self-booking systems. According to Ostrovok.ru, the number of bookings in the Krasnodar Territory for the summer remained at the level of last year, in Crimea it decreased by 50–60% yoy. In “Twill” they note a reduction in bookings in Yevpatoria by the end of the summer by 69%, in Sevastopol – by 66%. These results did not justify the initial expectations of the tourism industry, given that from January to mid-May of this year, according to Mr. Romashkin, the demand for resort holidays grew by 30-40% yoy.

Despite the decrease in the number of bookings, in terms of money, the market is likely to grow slightly. Sletat.ru says that the average cost of a vacation in the Black Sea resorts this summer amounted to 90.4 thousand rubles, an increase of 13% year-on-year. In the Krasnodar Territory, the indicator increased by 20%, to 93.5 thousand rubles. In Travelata.ru, the growth of the average check when placed in Adler is estimated at 24%, to 92.1 thousand rubles.

Ostrovok.ru notes an increase in the average cost of a booked night in Sochi by the end of the summer by 14%, to 4.9 thousand rubles, but in Evpatoria the value decreased by 21%, to 3.8 thousand rubles. Due to the general increase in prices in the Krasnodar Territory, Mr. Romashkin expects a 10–12% year-on-year increase in the turnover of the tourism industry in the domestic market, which corresponds to “tourist inflation”.

The expert believes that the popularity of the Black Sea resorts this summer season was negatively affected by a rather cold June, July floods in the Krasnodar Territory, traffic jams and explosions on the Crimean bridge. Another factor could be the growing competition with foreign destinations. According to Sletat.ru, in general, tours in Russia over the summer accounted for 31.4% of sales in the organized segment, which is 5 percentage points (p.p.) lower than a year ago.

Sergei Romashkin notes that the modest results of the Black Sea resorts do not indicate a general reduction in the domestic tourism market: growth is provided by sightseeing destinations. This can be seen from the statistics of organized sales. According to Sletat.ru, over the year, the share of the Krasnodar Territory in the domestic market decreased by 8 percentage points, amounting to 62.6% in the summer, Crimea – by 2.3 percentage points, to 2.7%. At the same time, the Kaliningrad region, St. Petersburg, Caucasian Mineralnye Vody and Dagestan showed a positive trend, the service notes. Travelata.ru indicates that the share of St. Petersburg in the summer in the structure of tours sold increased from 9% to 13% over the year.

The annual performance of the resorts can still improve, Mr. Romashkin does not exclude. The expert recalls that last autumn was difficult for the domestic market: “The announcement of partial mobilization and the information background formed around the event cost us about 1 million tourists.”

Given the low base, he does not exclude that this year the results of the “velvet season” will be noticeably better. “Now bookings for September are 30% more year-on-year,” notes Mr. Romashkin. Although a positive trend does not yet emerge from the dynamics of independent bookings.

According to Yandex Travel calculations, the share of foreign destinations in the structure of air ticket bookings for September-October increased from 20.5% to 26.5% over the year, excluding neighboring countries – from 12.5% ​​to 18%. Positive dynamics, according to the service, is observed mainly in Asian (Indonesia, South Korea, India, Thailand) and European (Montenegro, Spain) directions.

Alexandra Mertsalova