According to market research of the tourism services market conducted by the World Tourism Services Organization, the reasons for the decline of Ukrainian tourism are as follows:
- neglect of international experience in tourism development;
- lack of a consistent government policy in the industry;
- inefficient activities of the authorities in the tourism sector;
- lack of proper conditions for tourism development, tax and financial incentives by the state for export of tourist services and domestic tour operators;
- unsatisfactory work on formation and strengthening of the tourist image of Ukraine, development and promotion of the national tourist product in the international and domestic markets.
Signs and consequences of decline:
- decrease in the number of tourists compared to the indicators of 2012-2013;
- significant reduction in the share of tourism in the country’s GDP;
- decline in revenues from tourism and hotel services, tourist tax, foreign exchange earnings from exports of tourism and hotel services, investment in tourism infrastructure, and jobs.
The share of tourism in Ukrainian GDP is only 2%, while in developed countries this figure reaches 8%. Tourists come to us mainly from Germany, the USA, the UK, China and Japan.
Territorial turmoil, economic problems and political uncertainty led the tourism industry of Ukraine to a deplorable state: in 2014-2015 the tourism market fell by 40%. But in 2016 there was already an improvement, which was reflected in a 20% growth. This was thanks to Egypt and Turkey, which rescued their tourism industry and reduced prices to attract Ukrainian tourists.
Tourism in Ukraine reflects its internal socio-economic and political state. Thus, the annexation of Crimea and Russia’s military aggression sharply reduced the flow of foreign tourists. Inflation and devaluation of the hryvnia in 2014-2015 reduced the number of outbound tourists, but somewhat revitalized domestic tourism. The latter, as world experience shows, can cause a significant economic effect.
In the structure of tourism revenues in developed countries domestic tourism accounts for 80-90%, and on average in the world – over 72%. In Ukraine – about 64%.
Domestic tourism in Ukraine is still underdeveloped and needs state support.
An important problem in the tourism sector is the lack of qualified workers: most universities produce insufficiently trained specialists, and quality training and retraining for tourism in Ukraine simply does not exist. The picture is also spoiled by: imperfect legal protection of tourists on the territory of the country, difficulties with customs control, shadow economy.
Not the least among the many problems is the military conflict in the East of the country. It sows panic and does not help to attract tourists. Israel is also in a state of war constantly and it does not prevent the country to develop the economy and tourism. We should definitely adopt the experience of this country. Ukraine is a brand, its image should be developed and promoted no matter what. It is useful for public relations and for the country’s economy.
Analyzing the market of tourist services in Ukraine: indicators
In the next decade, tourism will remain one of the sources of new jobs in many regions of the world. Experts predict that over the next five years, the level of annual growth in this industry will be 5%, which equals 2 million new jobs. WTO studies show that tourist traffic will grow to 1.6 billion tourists per year by 2020, and their travel expenditures will reach $2 trillion – that is, $5 billion per day. Tourism will drive economic growth in the 21st century on par with the telecommunications and IT sectors.
In 2015, the number of Ukrainians who used the services of tour operators decreased by 17% and reached 1.15 million people. But according to the Department of Tourism of the MEDT of Ukraine, the number of travelers amounted to 1.44 million and most of them were Ukrainian citizens. Foreigners are almost as many as in 2014 (and in 2013 there were 137 thousand) – 22.4 thousand. But if we summarize all foreigners who have vacationed in Ukraine, the number will be much higher: for example, in 2015 only in Lviv there were about 35 thousand foreign tourists.
In 2016, the number of foreign travelers decreased. Especially travelers from the Russian Federation – by more than 900 thousand people. But the number of tourists from the former USSR increased by 20%. These are mainly residents of the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Moldova and the Republic of Azerbaijan. Mineral waters of Western Ukraine are favored by tourists from Central Asia. Often, they stay there to live. According to the Cabinet of Ministers, the number of foreign tourists who visited Ukraine in 2016 reached 16 million.
The world tourism organization UNWTO estimated Ukraine’s tourist flows in 2012 at $4.8 billion, and in 2014 – only $1.6 billion.
The World Economic Forum estimated the total income from tourism activities in Ukraine in 2012 at $3.2 billion, but in 2014-2015, due to the crisis and Russian aggression in the east of the country, Ukraine did not enter the ranking at all. But according to the results of the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2016, Ukraine can boast of such:
And in the Expat Insider 2016 ranking, which involved more than 14,000 people from 191 countries, Ukraine is proud of such performance:
In 2016, Ukrainians favored the beaches of such countries:
- Turkey;
- Egypt;
- Greece;
- Bulgaria;
- Montenegro;
- Cyprus;
- Spain.
Domestic market of tourist services in Ukraine
Oleshkovska desert and Optimistic cave, Uman and Lviv, Shatsk lakes and Svityaz, Shipot waterfall and Tunnel of Love, “Sofiyivka” and “Askania Nova”, the longest house in the world in Lutsk and drunken church in Chernivtsi, as well as hundreds of other places to see in Ukraine, tour operators offer.
About six million people make more than 10 million trips within the country. During 2001-2011 the volume of investments in the hotel and restaurant sector increased from 469 to 4908 million UAH, or 10.5 times. During 2011-2014, capital investments in the sphere of accommodation and catering of tourists decreased to 1.5 billion UAH. Domestic tourist flows are 70-80% provided by inbound tourist flows and only 20-30% by domestic tourists. During 2000-2014, the share of domestic tourists in the market tended to decrease, and even a sharp decline in inbound tourism in 2014 did not significantly affect the structure of tourist flows, which may indicate the underdevelopment of domestic tourism in Ukraine.
At the same time, the data of official statistics from various sources have significant differences, which is due, on the one hand, to different methodological bases of accounting, and on the other hand, to a significant shadow turnover in the industry. It is impossible to accurately determine the volume of the market for servicing tourist flows today.
For more research from branding agency KOLORO, see here.
The revival of domestic tourism that has been seen in recent years is due to:
- Reduced family budgets, including vacations.
- A surge of patriotism against the backdrop of recent events in the country.
Kherson, Odessa and Mykolayiv regions are popular. But even there the service does not correspond to the cost, which has increased many times after the occupation of the Crimean peninsula.
Although in the southern part of the country last year about 3 million people had a vacation. Other destinations, such as the Carpathians (which are in demand among Ukrainians and not only, always), Chernobyl and Pripyat and others – increased the number of tourists by 20%. Tour operators in this case perform the role of tour organizers, because online marketing of hotels in Ukraine is at a fairly high level.
You don’t have to invest a lot of money in advertising. You can see for yourself here. Or read about the biggest advertising budgets here.
Main tour operators of Ukraine
According to the MEDT data, the leaders in the number of outbound tourists are the following companies:
Ukrainian market of tourist services: what to do with savages
The presence of travel agencies in the market supply contributes to the distribution of tourism into organized and unorganized. The first type is travel, which is offered by travel agencies and sold on prepayment terms. Organized tourists buy tours with a predetermined route, duration of stay and volume of services provided.
Unorganized tourists travel on a self-formed route, place of stopover and all other nuances associated with the trip. Unorganized tourists are popularly called savages. Savages are a special kind of tourists who do not need tour operators, sometimes they also do not need a hotel, because the tent and sleeping bag can be taken with them. A typical example of unorganized tourism is hitchhiking. 90% of those who visited Istanbul are tourists who came without the help of tour operators. The countries with which Ukraine borders in the west (Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Belarus) are mostly entered without the help of travel agencies. And in Georgia out of 150 thousand Ukrainians, 135 thousand came as savages. In Antalya and the Mediterranean direction – on the contrary, almost all vacationers came through travel agencies.
It is profitable for travel agencies to book beach destinations because operators are given discounts for bulk buying. All that is left for operators is to fight for lower costs with carriers to attract more customers.
Those who are traveling on their own need to take care of accommodation on their own. In this case, such services are useful:
And in order to reach your destination, you can use not only hitchhiking but also such services:
And on such services you can book hotel rooms, air, rail and car tickets, as well as rent a car:
A new way of traveling is CouchSurfing. This is an online service whose members help each other during their travels to arrange accommodation or even organize leisure time in a foreign city or country:
Therapeutic resorts of Ukraine: mineral waters
Ukraine is not just one of the most beautiful countries in the world, but one of the cheapest in terms of cost of living for foreigners:
The most popular mineral water resorts are located in Transcarpathia. And not only Czech Republic and Hungary can boast of springs with thermal water: there are more than 50 of them in Transcarpathia! In Beregovo you can enjoy hydrogen sulfide water for 100 UAH for two hours. And for 200 UAH/3 hours in Kosino you can swim in beer, wine and coffee in special pools.
You can try yourself as an ingredient for soup in Lumshory: there is a fire in the open air, on which there is a vat of water, tourists rejuvenate in it: temperature changes have a beneficial effect on the cardiovascular system of a healthy person., It will cost from 350 UAH/hour. You can also recover your heart in the village Dolgoe (the analog of methane iodo-bromine water is located in Hungary) for 200 UAH per person for accommodation in a sanatorium and for 35 UAH for a bath. For 60 UAH per hour you can enjoy a bath in water saturated with minerals in the village of Veliatino.
The best drinking mineral waters are also located in the western part of the country. Mineral waters of Berdyansk, Zaporozhye region, which stimulate metabolic processes of the organism and have a beneficial effect on the digestive system, are not inferior to them in terms of mineralization. In addition to minwaters, you should enjoy the sun, sea and therapeutic mud. The cost of accommodation – from 100 UAH per person + meals.
In the center of the country, in the Poltava region, in Mirgorod, mineral water is extracted, which can be used to treat the gastrointestinal tract from disordered eating, and to relax and improve the condition of the skin, thanks to baths with mineral waters. Bring yourself in order in sanatoriums Poltava Baden-Baden can be from 500 UAH per day per person.
And on the Black Sea coast, in Odessa region, you can improve the cardiovascular system and metabolism with the help of mineral waters from 14 developed springs and open waters of estuaries in the village of Zatoka, Kuyalnik, Sergeyevka settlement. The cost of accommodation – from 100 UAH per person.
Svalyava is a small town located on the mineral springs, which can be reached by direct train from Odessa, Kiev, Lviv, Kharkiv, Vinnitsa and live for 300 UAH per person in a hotel and, enjoying the landscapes of Transcarpathia, drink Borjomi type water. In Svalyava district is well developed infrastructure near the village Solochin, which in recent years has become a resort. Here you are treated with mineral waters “Luzhanskaya” and “Polyana kvassovaya”. They have combined the healing properties of Borjomi, Essentuki and Narzan. Accommodation – from 50 UAH per day in private boarding houses. To recover, you will have to pay from 100 UAH per person in private houses and from 500 UAH in hotels. Procedures are paid separately.
Morshyn is one of the most famous resorts of the Pre-Carpathian region. Together with the beautiful nature and clean air, the resort sets a relaxing mood with a full range of health-improving procedures and the presence of a large number of mineral water springs, which improve the work of almost all internal organs of a person and the body as a whole. The cost of staying one adult – from 100 UAH in an apartment, from 200 UAH in a boarding house and from 300 UAH in a hotel, procedures are paid separately, access to the springs – free.
In the pearl of the Carpathians, village Skhidnytsia, at an altitude of 600 meters above sea level, not far from the resort Truskavets, is located a large number of different types of springs of healing waters, which you can recover throughout the year in sanatoriums and hotels, paying from 100 UAH per person without meals.
Truskavets is one of the three most popular mineral water resorts in Ukraine. There are 2 minvod bouvets, 2 balneozokeritohospital and a large number of sanatoriums, pensions, hotels and villas. They serve all year round and invite tourists to improve the work of the urinary system, gastrointestinal tract and metabolism. The cost of accommodation – from 50 UAH per person without meals in the private sector and from 140 without meals in hotels and sanatoriums. Procedures are paid separately.
Shayana Minvododa is also similar in mineral composition to the famous Borjomi, Essentuki and Vichy-Seleston. There you can not only treat the gastrointestinal tract, but also do horseback riding and order excursions in Transcarpathia. The cost of accommodation in the private sector starts from 100 UAH per person without meals or 150 in hotels, but also without meals.
Ecotourism in Ukraine: how to relax in nature
Ecotourism is a special type of tourism that not only generates revenue but also promotes ecosystem conservation. Trips/trips are made to natural areas with a special culture in order to promote it. Ecotourism should not be confused with nature tourism, an example of which is a trip to barbecue in nature.
Nature tourism is biotourism, i.e. a wilderness trip with a tent, and a simple excursion to a zoo or a walk in a nature reserve. Green tourism, or, as the Germans call it, soft tourism, is aimed not only at increasing profits, but also at popularizing the region, rational use of its natural resources and reducing possible damage.
A variation of green tourism is agrotourism or rural tourism. This kind of vacation provides full immersion in rural life: feeding animals, working on the land, participating in folk festivals and local customs.
The flagship of ecotourism in Ukraine is the Carpathian Biosphere Reserve. It pleases the eye with soft plains and steep mountain ranges, from which snow does not come down even in the hot season. The golden-white carpet near the village of Kireshi attracts tourists from all over Europe. There are 18 routes on the territory of the reserve. To see the Valley of Daffodils and admire all the beauty of the reserve, you need to travel by train or bus from Lviv or Ivano-Frankivsk to Rakhiv.
