Tour operators explained the increase in tourist flow in Anapa

Anapa showed a significant increase in tourist flow in the 2026 season, but this is primarily explained by a sharp decline in the number of vacationers in the 2025 season after the oil spill.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", more than 2.5 million tourists have vacationed in Anapa since the beginning of the year, bookings have increased by 27% compared to last year, reported the mayor of Anapa at the beginning of September. During the velvet season, Anapa will be one of the drivers of demand for recreation on the Black Sea coast of Kuban, tour operators are confident.

Krasnodar Krai ranked first among Russian regions in the number of hotel and apartment bookings through online travel agencies in the 2026 season. The region accounted for 18% of all bookings from May to September — 14% more than the previous year. The main driver of growth within the region was Anapa, where bookings increased by 47%, according to data from the Association of Tourist Aggregators (ATAG), reported by "Kommersant".

ATAG Director Alexander Bragin noted that this growth in Anapa is mainly related to the effect of a low base, as the resort was virtually non-operational last season.

At the beginning of the summer season of 2026, an increase in bookings for vacations at Black Sea resorts was expected to be around 8% due to good early bookings for the resorts of Crimea and the opening of Anapa's beaches. However, organized tourist flow to Crimea sharply declined due to external circumstances. And the only point of growth on the Black Sea coast became Anapa: its bookings with tour operators, according to preliminary results of the summer season, exceeded the figures of 2025 by 2-3 times, but this was growth "from a low base," writes the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR).

According to ALEAN, Anapa accounted for 46% of tour bookings in Krasnodar Krai, Sochi – 36%, and Gelendzhik – 16%. At "Multitur", Anapa also surpassed Sochi: it accounted for 54% of all bookings in Krasnodar Krai (Sochi – 27%, Gelendzhik – 14%), the publication states.

The resort season in Anapa opened against a sharp contrast in the condition of the coastline. Some beaches are open and deemed safe, while other areas are closed due to erosion, unstable soil, and environmental risks. Information on which beaches are ready for visitors and which pose dangers is provided in the report by "Caucasian Knot" "Anapa Beaches: Open and Dangerous Zones".

Despite problems with sand and seaweed on the beaches, Anapa showed the most significant increase in tourists in Krasnodar Krai in July reported. Hotels are keeping prices in Anapa at last year's level and even holding sales, emphasized the hotelier.

On December 15, 2024, two tankers carrying oil sank in the Kerch Strait. As a result, a crew member of one of the tankers died. Additionally, there was an oil spill, leading to catastrophic environmental consequences, as stated in the report by "Caucasian Knot" "Oil Spill in the Kerch Strait". Materials on the consequences of the oil spill have been collected by "Caucasian Knot" on the page "Ecological Disaster in Kuban".