Before the illegal annexation of Crimea, it was nearly impossible to find a bed anywhere on the peninsula in the summer. There was a huge influx of visitors, from across Ukraine and the world. I still meet people in the US who visited Crimea 12-15 years ago.
Today such crowds and international diversity are a distant memory. The once bustling resorts are half empty, with Russians the only people to make the trip.
“In the past, you could tell what season it was by the number of reservations. Now everyone plays it by ear,” a friend from the peninsula told me. “If something goes wrong somewhere, people change their minds and cancel their trips.”
“After Sevastopol, there will probably be silence too,” she said, referring to an incident on June 23 when fragments of a missile shot down by Russian air defenses killed five and injured more than 100 holidaymakers on the port city’s beach.
People in Crimea tell a story of a tourist industry struggling to keep going as it battles the effects of war and damage from winter storms. The international cruise liners that used to dock at the peninsula’s ports are long gone, along with the money their passengers brought with them.
Crimea does still have tourists – but fewer than before its illegal annexation and Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. According to official numbers published by its Russian-appointed government, Crimea was visited by 5.2 million tourists in 2023, 20% down from the previous year and a catastrophic collapse from the 9.5 million reported in 2021.
Before the 2014 annexation, tourism was a leading industry, generating at least 25% of the peninsula’s budget revenues, according to BlackSeaNews. Most visitors were middle and high-income individuals who stayed in expensive hotels and resorts. Now the visitors tend to come from poorer sectors of Russian society and bring less money to spend.
Russian military and security service personnel are also sent to Crimea’s resorts to recuperate in hotels seized as trophies of war by the occupying authorities.
It’s hard to verify the number of visitors, but with Ukraine successfully disabling one-third of the Russian fleet on the peninsula, and plans to liberate it from occupation, there is little optimism about the coming season.
“On TV they are constantly saying Ukraine is preparing another counter-offensive to de-occupy Crimea. They are also planning attacks on the Crimean Bridge, the most important artery that connects Crimea with Russia,” Yevgeny, a video blogger, said in a post from the peninsula. “This, of course, scares people.”
Videos with advice on Crimean resorts are especially popular on YouTube. For example, a Crimean named Nikolai tells potential visitors to be wary of the neighborhoods around their potential holiday destinations.
“The most important thing when you choose a vacation spot in Crimea is that everything goes quietly and calmly – there should be no ports, oil depots, airfields, or any military installations nearby,” he said in a post that’s been viewed 73,000 times. “All such objects should be avoided.”
At the same time, Crimea’s Russian-appointed governors are using the media to claim the peninsula is safe and secure for visitors.
“All necessary measures are being taken to ensure the safe passage of the holiday season,” Sergey Aksyonov, the head of the occupation government, said in a TV interview. “The peninsula’s defense systems are constantly being improved.”
According to tourism agencies, the Russians who do still go to Crimea are picking destinations based on the progress of the war and their distance from potential missile strikes.
“Many Russians have not given up on this region, even given the situation,” Natalia Anstal, head of the travel agency Go Travel, told 360.ru. “Now they are choosing areas that are far from the contact line, like Yalta and Alushta.”
But it’s hard to call such vacations quiet and carefree. A video posted by Crimea Wind showed a Ka-29 attack helicopter flying low over the heads of people on a beach in Western Crimea, while a post on Telegram showed sandbags and gun emplacements behind the beach at Yevpatoria.
“Locals say that Russian soldiers constantly walk along the road and there are scarecrows in military uniforms,” said the post, which showed temporary fortifications on the Western Crimean town’s waterfront.
Russian bloggers also confirm that villages on the West Coast, such as Shtormove, Popovka, and Molochne are open but their beaches are closed because they are being used by the military. Visitors can stroll through the villages but can’t go to beaches or into the sea.
Another factor dampening optimism for the tourism season is Crimea’s high prices.
“This year prices for vacations have increased by 20% compared to last year, said Evgeny, a video blogger. “Rising prices are a definite thing; many already believe that Crimea is very expensive and that not everyone can afford it.”
The Russian occupiers are looking for alternatives and have announced plans to build 20 resorts in the Azov Sea — in occupied Ukrainian cities in Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, including Melitopol, Berdiansk, Prymorsk and Mariupol. They are also offering subsidies for the tourism sector in the Kherson region for the development of infrastructure such as beach resorts and campsites.
This does not necessarily mean the Russian authorities are abandoning Crimea, but seeking a safer option as the peninsula becomes less secure.
With Crimea tourism turning into a costly burden and requiring government subsidies, the peninsula’s future feels increasingly uncertain. A palpable sense of unease and growing anxiety hangs thick in the air as one of Crimea’s main industries goes up in smoke.
Elina Beketova is a Democracy Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, focusing on the occupied territories of Ukraine. She worked as a journalist, editor, and TV anchor for various news stations in Kharkiv and Kyiv.
Europe’s Edge is CEPA’s online journal covering critical topics on the foreign policy docket across Europe and North America. All opinions expressed on Europe’s Edge are those of the author alone and may not represent those of the institutions they represent or the Center for European Policy Analysis. CEPA maintains a strict intellectual independence policy across all its projects and publications.
War Without End
Russia’s Shadow Warfare
CEPA Forum 2025
Explore CEPA’s flagship event.
