Russian resort city faces sharp tourist drop amid Ukrainian drone attacks

Russia’s largest resort city, Sochi, is experiencing a decline in tourist demand, with bookings in January and February estimated to have fallen by up to 30%, partly due to reduced transport accessibility caused by frequent Ukrainian drone attacks, according to Russian media.

Interest in Sochi, which relies more heavily on its airport than other Black Sea resorts, fell 9% year-on-year in January–February, Sergey Romashkin, vice president of the Russian Association of Tour Operators, said.

Between February 1 and 24, ticket sales to Sochi dropped 30% year-on-year and 38% compared to the previous month.

Krasnodar region is one of Russia’s key regional tourism markets. According to Travelline, it currently accounts for 14.3% of total hotel sales in the country, second only to Moscow at 21.6%. Romashkin said Sochi generates 30–35% of the Krasnodar region’s tourist flow, with Anapa at 25%, Gelendzhik 15%, and Tuapse at 5–7%.

One factor behind the reduced interest, Romashkin noted, is the increased airport restrictions due to drone attacks. Rosaviatsiya reported that such measures were implemented five times on February 23–24, causing adjustments to all scheduled flights. 

According to the Russian Defence Ministry, by the evening of February 24, 41 drones had been destroyed over the Krasnodar region, with another 28 shot down over the Black Sea.

Sochi depends on its airport more than other resorts. Only 15% of visitors arrive by car, compared to over half in Anapa, due to the challenging 170 km stretch between Dzhubga and Sochi, which can take seven to eight hours to traverse. Romashkin added that train travel is often not an option because of limited seating and long travel times, especially for tourists travelling from other regions via Moscow.

By Jeyhun Aghazada