Sochi authorities have counted nearly a million tourists in two months.
According to authorities, approximately one million tourists visited Sochi in January and February. The mayor announced the resort's preparations for the summer tourist season.
As reported by "Caucasian Knot," on February 1, Sochi authorities reported successful tourism results for the first month of 2026 – they estimated that the city welcomed nearly 685,000 tourists in January. Meanwhile, tourism industry representatives gave a less optimistic assessment of the situation, noting a decline in demand for vacations in the Krasnodar Territory and a crisis in domestic tourism in Russia.
In the first two months of 2026, Sochi received approximately one million tourists, Sochi Mayor Andrei Proshunin reported on March 9 on his Telegram channel.
"The average occupancy rate at hotels and resorts was 68 percent, and we see great potential for those planning a vacation in Sochi. On the March holiday weekend, approximately 100,000 tourists are in the city at any one time," he wrote.
According to him, Sochi has become one of the most popular vacation destinations in March. "And, judging by booking data, interest in May holidays is also growing. We've already begun preparing for the peak summer season, and I've tasked the team with developing a new system of incentives with hoteliers to ensure affordable vacations in our city," the mayor stated.
Sochi, like other resort towns in Kuban, regularly finds itself in the path of drone attacks. For example, on September 24, 2025, when two people died in a drone and unmanned boat attack in Novorossiysk and Tuapse, people in Gelendzhik and Sochi were ordered to leave the beaches. However, in Sochi, some vacationers returned to the sea. People in coastal areas risk becoming accidental victims in attacks, so the evacuation of beachgoers was justified, experts noted.
The Sochi mayor's report came amid a decline in tourist traffic to Anapa
As a reminder, following the fuel oil spill in the Kerch Strait, Rospotrebnadzor (Rospotrebnadzor) declared 141 beaches in Anapa and nine beaches in the Temryuk district unsuitable for recreation. In February 2026, the head of the agency stated that the beaches of Anapa and the Temryuk district are still unsuitable for recreation. She didn't rule out that the situation could change by the start of the summer season.
In 2025, 60% fewer tourists visited Anapa than in 2024, amid the fuel oil spill, while demand for other resorts in the Krasnodar Krai and Dagestan increased. From the beginning of the year through September, Anapa was visited by 1.5 million tourists – almost three million fewer than during the same period in 2024.
Some tourists went to Anapa only because hotels were forced to offer significant discounts. Due to a record drop in revenue, Anapa's sanatoriums and children's camps are teetering on the brink of closure.
In February, Svetlana Maslova, formerly Deputy Prime Minister of Crimea, was elected mayor of Anapa. She set the goal of maximally accelerating the restoration of beaches to ensure a full resort season.
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. In addition, an oil spill occurred, leading to catastrophic environmental consequences, according to the Caucasian Knot report "Fuel Oil Spill in the Kerch Strait".
Materials on the consequences of the fuel oil spill have been collected by the Caucasian Knot on the page "Eco-disaster in Kuban".