Why Crimea becomes "one-time"

"We are not so rich as to rest in the Crimea," "We were last year, we chose Turkey in this" ...

Alas, there are many such opinions. I, as a person in love with Crimea, are hurt by these words, but I give justice to justice - that’s all. The unique atmosphere of the pearl of Tauris fades against the backdrop of wild prices, flawed infrastructure, and the lack of normal logistics. This is where the drop in tourist demand comes from, because the weather, Turkey ...

Crimea, which became the leader of the most popular tourist inquiries in the Russian segment of the Google search engine according to the results of 2015, has now moved down to 14th place. The second place in popularity after the domestic tourism destinations took Turkey, the third - Thailand.

Of course, the summer of this year came late, and not only in the South Coast, but the sea was warming up for a long time. Perhaps this is the end of the list of subjective factors. Then begins a long list of objective ones, some of them have been accumulating for decades, and the discovery of Turkey is not the most important of them.

Here are just two points that completely kill the desire of Russians to go to the Crimean Riviera.

Road

For the most part, Russians travel south in the most conservative ways: by car or train, not everyone can afford a plane, but more on that later. But who wants to pay from 1700 rubles for a one-way ferry (it’s good to understand the queues there), and then make a detour 200-300 km and give crazy money for housing, the quality of which leaves much to be desired?

“With the advent of the Crimean bridge, the tourism industry of Crimea will live a different life. By the season of 2019, when traffic on the automobile part of the Crimean bridge will open, we expect an increase in tourist flow by about 20-30%,” said the Minister of Resorts and Tourism of Crimea S. Strelbitsky.

I would like to believe that the presence of a normal highway and bridge will encourage some Russians to return to Crimea again and come to get to know him.

Regarding air travel.

And here, not even ordinary tourists, but the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan, is ringing the bells.

“A flight to Crimea costs 30% -40% more than Sochi. And there is no reason for such a difference other than the desire of carriers to get superprofits. The republic cannot affect this situation, the issue can only be resolved at the federal level. However, everything what has been achieved so far is the verification of the validity of the tariff carried out by the FAS, "S. Strelbitsky said at the Crimean Transport Forum.

A search for air tickets to Momondo.ru in Simferopol, Sochi and Antalya for the same dates (July 29 - August 5) showed that flying to Sochi is really cheaper than to Simferopol, while Antalya (Turkey) is almost at the same price range. So, the cheapest round-trip ticket to Simferopol will cost 12-15 thousand rubles, in Sochi - 10-12 thousand rubles, and in Antalya - 14-16 thousand rubles.

Moscow says that the state can influence the pricing process only with the help of subsidies. Flights to Crimea are subsidized; it’s another matter that only a limited circle of passengers can take advantage of this subsidy.

Accommodation

I have already written about chicken coops in Sevastopol Kache more than once. But the trouble is not that someone set it up, and the authorities until recently scratched the back of their head. The whole problem is that they stop there and pay for these shacks! In the meantime, there will be demand, there will be offers.

Moreover, hotels and tour operators simply inflated prices. "The realities of today are that the tourist has reoriented to the private sector. Today, because of the prices that some hoteliers put up, they do not deserve tourists. The tourist has gone to the private sector," this is the opinion of the same Minister of Tourism of the Republic of Kazakhstan. In May, 36% of tourists visiting Crimea chose holidays in the private sector. At the same time, 48% of tourists planned their vacation on their own, and not through tour operators.

A tourist trip to a decent hotel for a family (two adults and one child 6 years old) with full board (all inclusive) in Crimea, in Antalya will cost almost the same - 145 thousand rubles. The package includes 14 nights of relaxation in the first half of August. In Crimea, this will be the Yalta-Intourist Hotel, in Antalya - the Grand Park Lara (five stars). However, an air ticket is not included in the Crimean tour package, unlike the Turkish one. And this is plus 45 thousand rubles. Or here's a prime example - Gurzuf is more expensive than Italy.

The cheapest offer in Turkey is 20 thousand rubles in a three-star hotel with a flight and all inclusive, while in the Crimea for 20 thousand rubles you can only fly in plus take a taxi from Simferopol to Yalta.

According to Onlinetours.ru, the most popular type of tour in Crimea (with accommodation in a 3 * hotel for 7 nights) costs 65.3 thousand rubles on average. Last year, this figure was 40.5 thousand.

And the prices in coastal restaurants and cafes? This is generally a separate song. It seems that every food establishment is trying to earn from one client immediately on a monthly rental and on staff salaries. What about transport? And the beaches? ...

In the Ukrainian period, the peninsula was visited by 1.5-2 million Russians, it was a stable figure. Over the past two years, Crimea has managed to attract 3.5 million new Russian tourists to those 2 million regular customers. Many visited the peninsula for the first time, came out of curiosity, climbed all the sights. However, Crimea has not yet been able to hook them for a long time.

The honest marketing base of the peninsula is those 2-2.5 million tourists, experts in the tourism industry say. In their opinion, if tourists are accustomed to rest in the format of the Turkish "olinclusive" in a closed area, then they returned to this this year. The surge of interest in the resort at the beginning of the Crimean spring, which turned the head of the local hotel business, also quickly turned into a recession.

In fairness, it is worth noting that this year, not only Crimea, but also the entire Black Sea coast of Russia faced a decline in tourists - the situation in Anapa and Gelendzhik is even worse. But this only says that the most beautiful opportunities of the Black Sea coast of Russia are almost not used for their intended purpose.