Russian tourists are expected to skip Crimea for the second year in a row as Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine takes its toll on the Black Sea peninsula’s economy.
Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and then pumped billions of dollars into the peninsula to upgrade its infrastructure. At the same time, Russian citizens and businesses invested in Crimean real estate, building vacation homes and hotels for tourists.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has turned Crimea into a target for Ukrainian forces, upending the peninsula’s decades-old reputation as an attractive summer beach destination. Russia was forced to close the airspace over Crimea to commercial planes following the invasion.
Ukraine’s bombing of a Russian air base on Crimea in August 2022 sent a cloud of black smoke into the sky and tourists fleeing back to Russia. Ukraine also struck the road and rail bridge connecting Russia and Crimea and sunk a Russian battleship off the Crimean coast.
SEE ALSO: Long-Range Missiles? Special Op? Regardless, Crimean Air Base Blasts Are A 'Real Quandary' For RussiaUkraine has vowed to retake Crimea from Russia.
According to the hotel booking website Ostrovok.ru., Crimea accounts for just 1 percent of 2023 summer bookings by Russian tourists, down from 19 percent in 2021, the summer prior to Russia’s invasion. Crimea accounted for 3 percent of bookings last year.
Sangadzhi Tarbayev, chairman of the Russian parliament’s Committee on Tourism and Tourism Infrastructure Development, said that Crimean hotels have lost at least 40 percent of their clients.
SEE ALSO: Ukraine Live Briefing: Scholz Talks To PutinThe short summer season accounts for the lion's share of income for many Crimean businesses and residents. The drop in tourists has already forced hotels and restaurants to slash prices.
Russia’s budget, already under pressure from surging war costs and a fall in energy prices, will pick up the tab to avoid mass layoffs on the peninsula.
Moscow has set aside 2.5 billion rubles ($30 million) to compensate Crimean companies who do not lay off people, Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-installed head of Crimea, said.
He put the number of tourism workers in Crimea at 30,000. Hotels that do not open will also be compensated by Moscow, he said.
Many military experts do not expect Russia’s war in Ukraine to end this year, potentially setting Crimea up for another dismal tourism season in 2024.