It is no secret that many Russians, for a number of reasons, have been trying to save a lot of money in recent turbulent times. This applies to various areas of everyday life, including vacation planning. Most of us are not ready to completely abandon beach vacations, so many are changing directions - those who are used to lying on the beaches of distant foreign countries in the summer have begun to turn their attention to domestic tourism, in particular to their native Black Sea. And although holidays in Abkhazia formally relate to international tourism, a number of factors (the absence of bureaucratic delays when crossing the border, the use of the Russian language by the natives, the historical factor, in the end) greatly brings the Soul Country closer to internal directions.
In the minds of many compatriots, Abkhazia has long been associated with amazing nature and relative cheapness. If everything is more or less clear with nature - it is really beautiful, but with regard to cheapness, not everything is so simple. Here we will try to figure it out.
Obviously, the main factor affecting the "vacation" costs is the cost of living in the chosen place. Abkhazia offers tourists a fairly wide range of housing. These are professional subjects of the hospitality industry (all kinds of hotels, hotels and pensions), and various variations of guest accommodation in the private sector (beds, rooms, houses, apartments, rooms in guest houses, etc.). In turn, the cost of living both in hotels and in the private sector also varies and, by and large, depends on the same parameters, such as the concept of accommodation, living conditions, the location of the hotel (apartment) relative to the sea, the availability of resort infrastructure, etc. ( there are quite a lot of them).
And here the fun begins. The relatively low cost of living in a place “without food” implies the indispensable appearance in the budget of the corresponding item of expenditure. Yes, in the hot season, the choice of catering points in Abkhazia is great, and tourists have the opportunity to pick up something that is acceptable by the size of the average bill, but, firstly, this does not apply to every settlement, and secondly, even if you have to eat daily somewhere in a cafe with low prices, you can still “eat” a decent amount during your vacation (add the obligatory snacks and quenching thirst on the beach, for a walk, etc.).
Another important point is trips around the country. The fact is that in Abkhazia it is by no means impossible to sit idly by the whole vacation near the place of deployment, otherwise the final impression of the vacation will almost certainly be, if not completely spoiled, then certainly very blurry. In addition, the use of the Russian language throughout the country allows vacationers to make independent excursions, that is, without contacting a travel agency. Well, since there are a lot of attractions in Apsny (both natural and man-made), acquaintance with them will also force the tourist to get his wallet every now and then.
For example, a completely real situation: today in Abkhazia there are new expensive hotels, the cost of living in which (together with the cost of a flight from Moscow to Sochi and vice versa) is equal to the cost of relaxing in a good Turkish or Egyptian "five". The concept of accommodation in them, in principle, allows the vacationer not to think much about the possible upcoming costs of food, since it (food) is included in the price in sufficient quantity and assortment. You can, of course, walk around the local cafes and restaurants, but rather out of curiosity rather than out of hunger.
But excursions to status Abkhazian places, of course, are not included in the price (at least in the right amount). As a result, the final total cost of a tourist’s vacation will certainly go beyond the cost of the Turkish and Egyptian “fives” and rush to the cost of the same “fives”, but already Spanish or Greek.
The conclusion from all of the above can perhaps be made as follows: the following categories of tourists can go on a budget to a vacation to Abkhazia:
- which do not attach much importance to the living conditions (in Abkhazia it is really possible to rent a house very cheaply, which is not quite suitable for comfortable living. And there are many tourists who are ready to turn a blind eye to the frequent lack of water, to the inconvenient location of the house, to crowding and other negativity - if only "zanedorogo" plunge into the wonderful Abkhazian nature)
- experienced travelers in the Land of the Soul, this category is well versed in all the intricacies of the holidays in Abkhazia - they, as a rule, already know when and where they will go, therefore, they plan their routes and activities in advance. They know all the places where you can eat or buy food inexpensively; they have overgrown with connections that make it possible to profitably (or even almost free of charge) rent a house or place to sleep. Similar skills and knowledge come, of course, only with experience. Including with a stranger - these people communicate with each other not only during their trips to Apsny, but also at home, using the appropriate online platforms (for example, this )
- even here you can include residents of neighboring regions of Russia (the cost of their vacation in Abkhazia will be less (ceteris paribus) due to relatively low travel costs. Sochi residents, by the way, are actively using this advantage, often coming to a neighboring state just for the weekend.
In reality, it is possible to compare the cost of holidays in Abkhazia with holidays in non-CIS countries with a great deal of conventionality, since it is not entirely correct to compare Abkhazia itself with other beach tourist destinations. It means that rest, say, in Turkey and rest in Abkhazia are two completely different events in terms of meaning. And there are absolutely clear and objective reasons for that ... But this is the topic of another article.