Russia's southern resorts: all systems go

By Vestnik Kavkaza

In April the ruble strengthened, and the demand for trips abroad increased. However, an interest in internal Russian destinations remained.

According to Oleg Safronov, the head of Rostourism, Krasnodar Territory and Crimea are ready to welcome tourists. “On the 1st of April I flew to Anapa, then got to Port Kavkaz by bus, as an ordinary tourist, then on the ferryboat I arrived at Port Krym. As a matter of fact, we have travelled all over the peninsula,” Safonov said.

He reached the conclusion that Crimea is ready to receive tourists at full capacity, but he admitted that there was a serious problem with regards to the transport availability of the peninsula: “Nowadays we are working on increasing the crossing capacity. As you know, our colleagues said that this year its overall capacity is going to be 10 thousand vehicles, or 50 thousand people a day. At the meeting which was held in Simferopol I also mentioned increasing the work in order to finish it faster. On the 1st of May tourists will be able to move comfortably from the Caucasus to Crimea.” 

Now the airport in Simferopol is under reconstruction. “We were informed that on the 1st of June airport reconstruction is to be completed and the airport will be available 24 hours a day. Last year it functioned only in daytime. We are going to increase considerably the capacity of the airport,” the head of Rostourism said.

“The peculiarity of the 2015 season is ‘’package tours’’, which are suggested for visiting the south of our country. The biggest tour operators suggest ‘’package tours’’ and sell them in travel agencies,” Safonov said.

According to him, other tourist regions are ready to welcome tourists as well: “Kazan and other cities are also ready in full measure so we invite all the tourists of our country. Welcome!”