Russians abandon Krasnodar resorts as drone attacks surge, hitting tourism hard
Russian firefighters (Photo: facebook.com/mchcRussia)
Demand for hotels in the Krasnodar Krai region during the May holidays fell by 20.7% compared to last year. Russians are refusing to vacation there amid Ukrainian drone attacks, airport closures, and the environmental disaster in Tuapse, according to Russian media.
Collapse in bookings
According to calculations by the Travelline service, the total number of hotel bookings in Russia for the period from April 27 to May 11 decreased by 11.1% year-on-year — despite a 2.2% drop in the average nightly rate to 9.8 thousand rubles. A decline was recorded in all ten key destinations. According to estimates by the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, demand fell by 15%.
The greatest drop in demand was for the Krasnodar Krai region – down 20.7%. Next are the Nizhny Novgorod region (‑19.7%), the Yaroslavl region (‑19.5%), and the Crimea (‑14.2%).
Tuapse: oil in the sea, benzene in the air
The Black Sea resort of Tuapse has now been under constant attacks by Ukrainian drones for two weeks. After several large-scale fires at the local oil refinery, the city was covered in oil rains, benzene and other hazardous substances were released into the air, and oil products from damaged storage tanks leaked into the Tuapse River and the Black Sea.
Sochi and closed airports
Back in February, a collapse in trips to Sochi was recorded. Sergei Romashkin, head of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, attributed this to frequent airport closures due to drone attacks and mass flight cancellations.
Earlier, at least eight sanctioned oil tankers passed through the English Channel, despite the British government's stated intention to fight the shadow fleet.
Meanwhile, the EU's new sanctions package is aimed at shutting down the capabilities of Russia's shadow fleet, which allows the Kremlin to earn oil revenues.
Furthermore, the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine reported that Russia plans to increase the number of oil tankers sailing under the Russian flag.
