The fuel oil spill has affected bookings of non-beach tours to Anapa.

The recent New Year holidays saw a decline in tourist numbers in Anapa, but preliminary data shows a 10% increase in bookings for the May holidays compared to last year's figures.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot," the governor set the goal of returning the Krasnodar Krai to pre-fuel oil levels of tourism. Anapa will be ready to welcome tourists in 2026, stated Krasnodar Krai Governor Veniamin Kondratyev, announcing the waiver of the tourist tax for the year. Summer bookings are extremely low, according to hoteliers. Blogger Yuri Ozarovsky recorded a video message before his direct line with Putin, asking for permission to open Anapa's beaches in 2026, assuring that there are virtually no traces of fuel oil in the sea or on the shore. However, questions from Anapa were not heard during the direct line.

Interest in booking summer vacations in Anapa is now somewhat higher than last year. The majority of these bookings are from repeat customers. At the same time, the lack of official information about the opening of beaches is creating some concern, according to the Russian Union of Travel Industry.

Many accommodation facilities, especially resorts, are being forced to lay off qualified staff. These employees are in demand at the resorts of Sochi and Kislovodsk, which creates a risk of losing valuable talent for Anapa, according to the publication, as quoted by Sergei Tolchin, head of the Russian Union of Travel Industry (RUTI) Committee for Domestic Tourism and CEO of Tourplatforma.

"In this regard, our committee is initiating appeals to the government regarding support for Anapa's facilities: partial compensation for personnel costs, a loan moratorium, and other effective measures," Tolchin emphasized.

Hoteliers are extending last year's promotions, adding early booking discounts and other offers to boost demand, said Oksana Bulakh, Commercial Director of Alean. According to her, large 4-5* hotels operating on an all-inclusive basis enjoyed stable demand last summer and are booking well for the coming season. Smaller hotels without developed infrastructure are less popular with closed beaches. Many of them have not yet decided whether to reopen for the summer.

She noted that demand for May holidays not tied to beach vacations increased by 10% compared to January of last year, and interest in June trips has also increased.

The New Year holidays showed a steady decline in bookings in Anapa. For example, the number of tourists for New Year's 2026 fell by 40%. The Sochi Ski Cluster also lost 30% of its tourists due to vagaries of the weather, and the coastal cluster lost 5% due to a combination of factors, noted Sergey Romashkin, CEO of the major tour operator Dolphin. Across the country, according to him, the number of people taking advantage of New Year's tours is 15% lower than the previous year.

On December 15, 2024, two tankers carrying fuel oil sank in the Kerch Strait. A crew member of one of the tankers died as a result. Additionally, an oil spill occurred, leading to catastrophic environmental consequences, according to the "Caucasian Knot" report "Fuel Oil Spill in the Kerch Strait."

Experts estimate that the recovery of the Black Sea's biosystem following the fuel oil spill in the Kerch Strait will take between five and 10 years. Materials about the consequences of the fuel oil spill in the Krasnodar Territory have been collected by the "Caucasian Knot" on the thematic page "Eco-disaster in Kuban".