When the vacation season in Crimea ends the local hotels and boarding houses are empty and the aqua-parks and restaurants are closed for the cold season. Local authorities are looking at ways of turning the southern coast of Crimea into an all-year-round resort. Such issues were discussed at a recent investment forum called "Resorts and Tourism in Crimea".

  According to official information, since the beginning of the year 5.7 mln people had visited Crimea. Now, the local authorities are thinking of how to make Crimea attractive for tourists all year round, how to provide jobs to the local population and how to ensure proceeds to the budget in the fall and winter. Crimean Minister for Resorts and Tourism Volodymyr Savelyev, in particular, is convinced that the Social Insurance Fund (SIF) must be persuaded to buy holiday packages to Crimean health resorts during the off-season as well. Otherwise, nothing will change.

  He proposes approving a state program on cooperation with the SIF and recollected how years ago, when Crimea health spas belonged to trade unions, they were full at any time of the year despite the much poorer living conditions. The minister said that there are 245 spas in Crimea capable of functioning all year round. Savelyev refers to Russia's experience. Resorts in Sochi, which are traditional competitors to those in Crimea, are 75-80% full in winter thanks to the social insurance system.

  Meanwhile, the absence of a targeted advertising strategy is one of the key problems of Crimean resorts in particular and Crimean property in general. The funds allocated for this are minimal. There exist tested mechanisms of attracting tourists and investors to Crimean property from around the world that could be applied here. Crimeans are ready to follow the example of Austria, which built its promotion of tourism on the Mozart brand. In the opinion of the Feodosiya administration, the attention of tourists to the town could be attracted with the help of the name of the painter of seascapes Ivan Aivazovskiy.

  The classic Russian writer Anton Chekhov could become such a brand name for Yalta. The construction of a theater, which will be named after Chekhov, will soon be completed in the city. It is planned that the theater will become a stage for many theater troupes from around the world.

  Soon, Turin, Italy will host an international conference dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the end of the Crimean War. Crimean historians and leaders of the tourism and real estate market in Crimea have been invited to attend the conference. This new wave of interest to these historical events could attract tourists and holiday makers from European countries to Crimea. In particular, the British are attracted to the cities of Sevastopol and Balaklava and interested in Sevastopol and Balaklava property for sail. Actually, British investors have already voiced their interest in investing into Balaklava.

  According to official statistics, from 2000 till the middle of 2007 the volume of foreign investments into the property, resort and tourism industry of Crimea totaled USD 162 mln. Russia, Germany, the Virgin Islands, Great Britain, Cyprus, Switzerland, the U.S., Uzbekistan and Latvia have shown the largest investment activity. The share of these countries in the total volume of investments amounts to 88%.

  Experts believe that Ukrainian or Russian investors stand behind some of these companies. 33 projects in the sphere of business properties, resorts and tourism with the total cost of USD 44 mln are being implemented in Crimea. The demand for investments is estimated at USD 500 mln.

  Investors are more inclined to invest into the southern coast of Crimea, while the eastern coast, the coast of the Sea of Azov and the northwestern part of the peninsula with still low prices but extremely interesting investment projects and real estate for sale require their attention.