The number of hotel bookings in Sevastopol for July and August fell by 43% year on year, while in Crimea the decline reached 31%. At the same time, the number of canceled bookings increased over the year by 79% in Sevastopol and by 88% across the peninsula. This was reported by Kommersant.
According to the newspaper, the sharp drop in demand in the annexed peninsula is linked to a “difficult situation with the functioning of transport and infrastructure” in the region. The factors cited include Ukrainian strikes, the fuel shortage, power supply disruptions, and traffic jams on the Crimean Bridge.
A similar decline in travel demand this year has also been recorded in the regions of the North Caucasus. In Chechnya, the number of bookings dropped by 36%, while in Dagestan it fell by 29%. Journalists attributed this trend to spring flooding in the republics.
The frontline Kursk region was also listed among the areas with the steepest decline, with bookings down by 31%.
Experts said efforts to stimulate tourist traffic are unlikely to produce a significant effect. In their view, this is being held back by Russians’ attempts to cut spending and by fears related to safety.
As Novaya-Europe previously calculated, by the evening of June 25 the fuel crisis had affected at least 75 regions of Russia as well as annexed Crimea. Problems on the peninsula have been observed since early June, while in Russia’s other regions they have been visible since the middle of the month. The publication named the effective blockade of the peninsula and Ukrainian strikes on oil refineries in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion among the main causes.