Russia spends $ 58 million to rescue Crimean health tourism

The Russian annexation of Crimea from Ukraine has almost destroyed local health and wellness tourism. As some Western countries do not accept that the vast majority of the people of Crimea are happy to once again be part of Russia, politics and sanctions mean that health tourist numbers from Europe and Ukraine have fallen to almost zero.

The Russian annexation of Crimea from Ukraine has almost destroyed local health and wellness tourism.

As some Western countries do not accept that the vast majority of the people of Crimea are happy to once again be part of Russia, politics and sanctions mean that health tourist numbers from Europe and Ukraine have fallen to almost zero.

As many of the people who have traditionally gone to Crimea for health and wellness breaks, or recuperation, come from Russia and other CIS countries, Russia has a simple solution which may or may not work. The intent is to rebuild tourism and health tourism with an almost exclusive focus on people from Russia and the other CIS countries including Kazakhstan, Latvia, Estonia, Moldova, Georgia and Belarus. The logic is simple, facilities are rarely modern and few speak any language other than Russian- so trying to target Europeans who want luxury facilities or do not speak Russian, when the majority of the European press voice anti-Russian sentiments, is pointless.

The Russian government has allocated $58 million for health, wellness and medical tourism to Crimea in a bid to salvage the tourism industry in the annexed Ukrainian territory. The money, assigned to the state Social Insurance Fund, will make it possible to send 75,000 Russian people to the Black Sea resort’s sanatoriums.

Crimea, a popular resort in Soviet times that had been part of Ukraine since 1954, was annexed by Russia in March 2014.In addition to triggering sanctions against Moscow and the Crimean peninsula, the annexation has crippled Crimea’s tourism industry, previously heavily dependent on Ukrainians.

Official Crimea estimates forecast 3 million tourists in Crimea this year, compared to 6 million in 2013. The Crimean tourism industry stands to lose up to $2.3 billion this year.

Giving money will not be enough as in practical terms Russians cannot easily reach the Crimean peninsula, which has no land connection to Russia, leaving the local airport and ferry line sorely overloaded. Additional airline and ferry services will be needed to cope with 75,000 Russians.