Commentators questioned the advisability of traveling to Anapa amid gasoline shortages

Train service and gas problems in Crimea have led to an increase in tourist traffic to Anapa, tour operators emphasized. Gasoline has also become difficult to buy in Anapa, according to a local blogger. Gasoline problems in Anapa could discourage tourists from visiting the resort, commentators said.

As "Caucasian Knot" reported, tourist flow to Anapa is affected not only by the prolonged sanding of beaches with imported sand, but also by regular air raids and fuel shortages.

Anapa's popularity has grown amid difficulties with travel to Crimea

According to Sergey Romashkin, CEO of the tour operator "Dolphin," Anapa has shown strong growth since the beginning of the year – around 40%. But over the past two weeks, growth has reached 60-65% compared to last year.

"This above-plan growth is precisely due to vacationers changing their location. This season, we'll see them in Anapa," Vedomosti.Yug quotes him as saying.

According to Romashkin, this isn't so much a matter of people moving from Crimea as it is a change of itinerary for tourists who originally planned to vacation on the peninsula. Now they've adjusted their destination and will be heading to the resorts of Kuban.

"Trains only go to Kerch. Tourists don't understand how to get to Crimea—there's no gas. That's a problem," 93.RU quotes Alexan Mkrtchyan, Vice President of the Alliance of Travel Agencies and CEO of the Pink Elephant travel agency chain.

According to him, vacationers are abandoning Crimean vacation packages en masse in favor of Anapa. Abkhazia is second most popular with tourists, and Sochi is third.

The main reason for the mass cancellation of Crimean vacations is fuel shortages. Around 76% of tourists traveled to the peninsula by car, and in the current situation, it's unclear how to get there, according to VCP Travel strategic analyst Mikhail Abasov.

Fuel shortages have also emerged in Anapa

Meanwhile, blogger Yuri Ozarovsky reported that Anapa is also experiencing a gasoline shortage. He was looking for a gas station in his car today. "The only diesel fuel near my house is at Lukoil, but the line is clearly made up of non-diesel cars...," he writes.

"Gazprom only has diesel. They said they'll deliver gasoline tomorrow," he reported in another post on his Telegram channel.

According to him, the gasoline problems have worsened. "Everyone who's driven up says they can't find gasoline in the Anapa region," he said.

"For those looking for fuel, there's some at Rosneft, but there's a long line," he added in another message.

The message about the fuel shortage garnered 166 comments on his Telegram channel.

Some commenters noted that if Anapa were to experience gasoline shortages, they wouldn't consider it a vacation spot.

"Hmm... looks like my trip to Anapa is canceled," Anton wrote.

"Ours, too." "It's a shame," commented Dmitry Tabachkov.

"We planned to travel by train, the tickets were bought, but without fuel, I can't imagine what will happen with taxis and everything else about deliveries to the hotels," noted Marina***.

"We arrived in Anapa yesterday, there were some difficulties, but with a full tank. The point is, now we're sitting in the hotel, careful with every liter, and we wanted to explore the surrounding area this time. "The mood is spoiled," shared Anastasia Surikova.

As a reminder, the resort season in Anapa opened against a backdrop of a sharp contrast in the state of the coast. Some beaches are open and considered safe, while others are closed due to erosion, unstable soil, and environmental risks. Which beaches are ready for visitors and which are dangerous is described in the "Caucasian Knot" report "Anapa Beaches: Open and Dangerous Zones".

On December 5, 2024, two tankers carrying fuel oil sank in the Kerch Strait. A crew member of one of the tankers died as a result. In addition, an oil spill occurred, which led to catastrophic environmental consequences, according to the "Caucasian Knot" report "Fuel oil spill in the Kerch Strait".

Materials about the consequences of the fuel oil spill have been collected by the "Caucasian Knot" on the page "Eco-disaster in Kuban".

* Meta (owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) is banned in Russia.