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Russians start booking holidays in Crimea — tour operators

The Association of Tour Operators of Russia stressed the need for organizing lower-cost air traffic to Crimea to attract a bigger number of tourists
A view of a sunset in the Crimea (archive) ITAR-TASS/Alexei Pavlishak
A view of a sunset in the Crimea (archive)
© ITAR-TASS/Alexei Pavlishak

MOSCOW, March 25. /ITAR-TASS/. Tour operators begin to receive requests from Russian tourists wishing to spend holidays in Crimea after its reunification with Russia, says the Association of Tour Operators of Russia.

Travel companies just received no more than ten requests per day, the association said on Tuesday, stressing the need for organizing lower-cost air traffic to Crimea to attract a bigger number of tourists.

According to the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, almost half of the Russians holidaying in Crimea in the past years went there by train or by car.

At the moment, the use of these means of transportation seem not quite clear, as it is unknown what measures Ukraine will introduce for those crossing the border, says the association.

“Therefore it would be optimal to open a regular air link from 15-20 Russian cities as a minimum,” tour operators said.

The Russian Federal Tourism Agency, Rostourism, said last year 6 million tourists visited Crimea, of them 2 million were Russians.

Crimea’s resort and tourism sector has 825 institutions. Of them 151 are sanatoriums and spa resorts, 224 - health resorts and 92 - resorts for children.