Fuel oil spill in Anapa resulted in increased tourist flow to Dagestan

60% fewer tourists came to Anapa due to the fuel oil spill than last year, while demand for other resorts in the Krasnodar Territory and Dagestan increased.

As "Kavkazsky Uzel" wrote, in June, the resorts of Kuban received 2.5 million people due to the fuel oil spill, in July, the most bookings were for Sochi, the governor said. In Sochi, the tourist flow did not grow as significantly as expected due to the fuel oil spill and rising prices, representatives of the tourism industry indicated. The decrease in the number of tourists in Krasnodar Territory due to the fuel oil spill was more than 13%, while the resorts of Kuban are recording rising prices.

A little more than half of all accommodation facilities are operating in Anapa. The average occupancy rate is about 30%, and last year at this time it was 92%, Krasnodar Krai Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said on his Telegram channel.

Industry experts agreed with this data. "The drop in tourist flow to Anapa is 60% compared to last summer. In general, the decrease in demand for Anapa has led to a decrease in the number of tourists at Russian resorts by 10-15% in the summer season," RBC quoted Sergei Romashkin, vice president of ATOR for domestic tourism, as saying.

Despite this, Anapa is among the top 50 popular cities in terms of the number of bookings. For vacations in Anapa, Russians choose hotels with swimming pools, including all-inclusive hotels, the Ostrovok company reported.

At the same time, tourists are interested in other destinations, in particular the Azov coast. "The favorites here are the Yeisk district with a 23% increase in tourist flow, as well as Slavyansky and Primorsko-Akhtarsky," the publication cites data from the Ministry of Resorts, Tourism and Olympic Heritage of the Krasnodar Territory.

Partially, the flow of Anapa tourists recorded in Dagestan, where demand for beach holidays has increased this season. "Last summer, people often went to the republic on excursions, and now twice as many tourists choose a beach holiday on the Caspian Sea lasting 10-11 days. We are already noting a 15% increase in tourist flow to Dagestan compared to the same season last year," the Ostrovok company told the publication.

The Krasnodar Territory Operational Headquarters reported today that divers collected 238 bags of fuel oil and contaminated sand in Dzhemete the day before.

Recall that Rospotrebnadzor has recognized 141 beaches in Anapa and nine beaches in the Temryuk District as unsuitable for recreation. Signs with information about the ban on swimming have been installed there, and announcements about this are also displayed on video screens in various districts. Anapa.

In addition, government officials are patrolling coastal areas and asking vacationers not to visit these places. When checking into hotels and sanatoriums, tourists are required to sign written notices about the ban on swimming and health risks.

On December 15, 2024, two tankers with fuel oil sank in the Kerch Strait, which led to catastrophic environmental consequences. Details can be found in the "Caucasian Knot" reference "Fuel oil spill in the Kerch Strait".

Materials about the consequences of the fuel oil spill have been collected by the "Caucasian Knot" on the thematic page "Eco-disaster in the Kuban".