The holiday season of 2022 in Crimea is called by local residents the most unfortunate in all the years of occupation. In June, about 815 thousand tourists stayed in the hotels on the peninsula. As of August 2022, the tourist flow in Crimea has decreased by 40% compared to last year. The main reasons are considered to be stress and problems with logistics: the threat to the safety of tourists due to hostilities, and the abolished civil air service.

The local authorities do not mention the fact that one of the main reasons for the lack of tourists in Crimea is the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, but this issue is actively discussed by the population of the peninsula. From the beaches of Crimea, tourists can watch fighter jets and submarines. A significant part of vacationers note that they constantly check the news and are ready to immediately leave Crimea in case of danger.

Due to the lack of air communication on the beaches of the peninsula, you can meet vacationers who got there by land transport: bus, train or their own car. However, this trip, even from the nearest Russian city to Crimea, can take up to a day due to significant traffic jams. Also, the capacity of the Crimean bridge and the transport infrastructure of Crimea does not allow to increase the number of bus and rail routes. It is almost impossible to buy a ticket for one of the regular flights to Crimea due to their absence.

The third reason is that rest in Crimea has become too expensive for Russian tourists, because in recent years its cost has exceeded the price of a similar vacation in the resorts of the Krasnodar Territory. By the way, in 2022, in this region, as well as in Crimea, civil air traffic is almost completely closed, only one airport in Sochi is operating. Inflation has also increased in the country, so many people have abandoned sea holidays this year altogether.

In early August, the danger from military operations was added to the above reasons for the absence of tourists. Thus, on August 9, 2022, a series of explosions sounded at the airfield in Novofedorivka, Saky district of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. According to media reports, the first explosion occurred at 15:20, there were about 10 of them in total. The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that this happened in connection with the detonation of aviation ammunition. Five people are said to have been injured. Buildings adjacent to the airfield were damaged. Later, the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed the destruction of the enemy airfield and aviation weapons.

The airfield in Novofedorivka is an important military facility that the Russian army is actively using in the war with Ukraine.

There are no victims or injured among the tourists, but the explosions were heard and seen from the beach area, which frightened the vacationers. Some sources report that as a result of explosions at the airport, there is an outflow of tourists from Novofedorivka and other regions of Crimea. Experts predict early completion of the holiday season on the peninsula.