Crimea: «optimistic» scenario?

FAILURE OF SEASON IN CRIMEA, reducing Outbound tourism ALMOST half - on one hand, growth in domestic tourism in Transcarpathia, REVIVAL cruise tourism - on the other. Is the result of summer holiday season in UKRAINE

Tourism in a spin?

At the beginning of tourist season in the State Service for Tourism and Resorts for the coming summer look with optimism. Officials from tourism asserted: Ukrainian tourist industry, including infrastructure and the Crimea, it is able to withstand the crisis. An idea was nezateyliv: from trips abroad average Ukrainians refused, and rest would still be somewhere.

At the end of the season the results were disappointing - clients this year and lost the entry and exit, and domestic tourism. Most the failed results showed Crimea, having lost, according to official data, approximately 13% of holidaymakers. However, tour operators also cites other, more sad figures: according to their data, the fall of tourist flow to the peninsula ranged from 22 to 50%.

As the custom, all the blame laid on the crisis - thanks, they say, and for such a result. However, these figures - a bright display of state policy in relation to the tourism industry, in particular in respect of such potentially-oriented tourism regions such as Crimea. Peninsula saw that just the presence of the sea and a sense of questionable patriotism tourists no longer be enticed, and the government once again made sure that without the support of the industry, particularly during the crisis period, a good "harvest" no tourists gather. Make sure some have seen, that only make it appropriate conclusions?

Listen to the tour operator and do the opposite

Following nine months of this year, the total number of tourists in Crimea totaled 4.9 million people. It is unlikely that this number will increase significantly before the end of the year - on the peninsula came "dead" season. Although seemingly expensive holiday on foreign resorts was only on hand Crimea. But this is only possible if the design and implementation of good policies increase the tourist appeal of the peninsula. In this case, the large-scale failure could well be avoided. Operators advised local boarding and health resorts of lower rates at 15-20%, but those, as expected, went the opposite way - tied them to the dollar soared. Thus, in the current season in Crimea, the average prices of holidays increased by 10-15%.

As a result, the volume of organized tourism crept down - in health resorts rested 922.8 thousand people, almost 18% less than last year's figures. More people are being pulled in a private boarding houses and apartments (in determining the number of such tourists, official statistics powerless).

Also, played a notorious role Crimean service. Many refused to travel to the peninsula because of it - when the cost of leisure increases, the requirements for the service also automatically increase. But alas - rudeness, filthy beaches, for the entrance to which for some reason you have to pay, and other well-known "beauty" of the Crimea have not disappeared ...

Hotels lot, not enough: you want to emphasize

It would seem that something which, as hotels in Crimea enough. But still on the peninsula, there is no five-star hotel. The 93-s existing hotels, only 20% passed the certification of "stars". Three of them ( "OREA da», «Palmira Palace Resort & SPA» and «Radisson Resort Alushta») rated 4 * (average cost of stay ranged from 103 to 438 dollars a day), the rest appropriated 2.3 *. What is a 2-3 star in our country - to explain too much. Most suffered from a shortage of hotel guests in the western and eastern Peninsula. According to experts, the main reason was the lack of compulsory certification of hotels in the middle price segment. And since owners themselves refuse to undergo this procedure, assuming that the tourists will come to them in any case. But the last, tasted relatively inexpensive and at the same time, high-quality vacation at the same Turkey or Egypt, have ceased to burst in the Crimea, and it is not clear to overpay for anything.

Belarus as well become less

As expected, in addition to the Ukrainians, mostly in the Crimea was Russian and Belarusian holiday. However, experts maintain that the Russians this year we were visited by almost a half less - our neighbors, too, either to develop its resorts, or to refuse to leave at all.

Byelorussia will also own reasons to go to Crimea. In the absence of its sea, as well as complicated by possible after the last presidential elections to travel to Europe, cars with Belarusian numbers on routes Kiev-Odessa and Nikolaev - Kherson - Crimea encountered quite a lot. But still not as much as in past years - most notably it was sharply decreased the number of Belarusian avtocharterov in a southerly direction.

There is an old anecdote about the differences between optimists and pessimists. From the perspective of a pessimist, worse than already can not be. Optimist same, says: "Maybe even as possible!". Apparently the results of the tourist season in Crimea can be measured precisely on such "optimistic" scenario ... Of course, make the local authorities, as well as the owners of infrastructure projects, the findings of a failure of the current situation, and if they do, what, only time will tell. However, it is not so much. And the perennial problem of the peninsula - a pronounced seasonality - to decide how it should be, ie complex methods, no one has yet tried. But away from the seasonal scourge is not too difficult - in fact possible to improve the competitiveness of the peninsula, for example, through the development of spa-centers, and medical and health tourism in general. You do not need to reinvent the wheel - to "only" repair spas and health resorts, to improve medical facilities and medical staff ... Of course, this requires investment, but that they may come, you must create the conditions for them. But with that something in our country and the problem - both at the regional and national levels ...

Victoria Samoilova