Almost 11 Million Spend Holidays in Krasnodar Krai
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Almost 11 million people have spent their holidays in Krasnodar Krai this year, which is about the same number as the last year, reports the Ministry for Resort and Tourism Development of Krasnodar Krai. Also, according to a VTsIOM (All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion) poll, tourist flow in the region rose 9%.
Sochi authorities also reviewed the results of the summer holiday season. Anatoly Pakhomov, the city’s mayor, says that despite the large-scale construction work throughout the city and all the inconveniences that ensue, there was no decrease in the tourist flow compared to the last year.
“During the summer alone, 2.5 million tourists visited Sochi,“ he told TRN.
He also said that the program “Open South” will remain in effect during the off-season.
This year the Ministry for Resort and Tourism Development of Krasnodar Krai deemed Sochi the best resort of the Black Sea coast of Russia, thus ending a three-year winning streak of Gelendzhik.
And now – a brief overview of the leading tour operators for the destination.
A small increase in the tourist flow has been exhibited by the national tour operator ‘Alean’, which was given an award by the regional ministry for active promotion of Krasnodar Krai resorts.
According to Deputy General Director for Contract Work Dmitry Popov, the increase in tourist flow is 5-6%. “It grew at the expense of Gelendzhik, Anapa and Tuapse. Sochi sales have not grown this season. They are still at the same level as 3-4 years ago, when demand fell 20% due to the Olympic construction,” he said.
Mr Popov also noted that, while last season spa resorts did not enjoy high demand, this year the tables have been turned: the demand for spas is growing.
According to Krasnodar Statistics Service, 13bn 251m rubles were invested in spa-resort and tourism enterprises during the first half of 2013, which is three times the amount of the 2012 investment for the same period.
“Small hotels are being built throughout the whole coast,” says Popov. “For instance, last year a five-star hotel was built in Anapa. In May of this year we also opened an all-inclusive five-star hotel there called ‘Dovil’, which is actually our second endeavor. Our first hotel – ‘Riviera’ (4 stars) – was opened ten years ago in Anapa and enjoys very good demand, with 70% of the residents being regular customers.”
According to Popov, during the first season ‘Dovil’ was 50-60% full. “It is a pretty good start,” said the deputy director of ‘Alean’. “However, next season all rooms are bound to be sold out, since even now, before the start of sales, travel agencies are actively requesting the hotel.”
Sergei Romashkin, General Director of ‘Delfin’, agrees with this forecast. “The first season is rarely a roaring success for new hotels, since tourists believe that not everything is up to scratch there yet,” he said.
Mr Romashkin cited a September poll by VTsIOM which was conducted throughout the resorts of Krasnodar Krai. As opposed to the regional ministry, which did not detect a year-on-year increase in tourist flow, the survey of 38 cities showed a 9% rise.
“As for our company,” says the general director of ‘Delfin’, “this year was not very successful, sales dropped 5%. Adler and Sochi center showed negative results for obvious reasons; having dropped 20% due to the flood, the tourist flow to Gelendzhik recovered last year; there is also growth for Tuapse and Anapa.”
Romashkin says that the operator is determined to achieve better results next year.
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