Ukraine to offer war scenes as tourist destinations

18-11-22

• The State Agency for Tourism and Development of Ukraine has started working with localities such as Bucha and Irpin.

• For years, Ukraine has been offering guided tours of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. 

• The aim is also to remember the suffering in the wake of the Russian invasion.

• The message is "Now we need you to come and spend money here".

Ukraine wants to turn some of the sites made internationally famous by the Russian invasion of the country into tourist destinations in order to promote this sector and, at the same time, help to ensure that the suffering and destruction suffered at the hands of Russia is not forgotten.

Ukraine wants to convert some of the scenarios that the Russian invasion of the country has made internationally famous tourist destinations to promote this sector and, at the same time, help to ensure that the suffering and destruction suffered at the hands of Russia is not forgotten.

This was explained by Mariana Oleskiv, President of the State Agency for Tourism and Development, during her participation in the 104th General Assembly of the European Travel Commission in Prague.

Thus, to already known destinations such as the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which in 2019 was already visited by more than 100,000 people, the capital Kiev or the UNESCO heritage city of Lviv, "new products related to the war" are now to be added.

For the time being, his agency has started to work with localities such as Bucha or Irpin, where hundreds of civilians were killed by Russian troops.

Oleskiv said that tourism would be a way of "commemorating those places" that have been symbols of the conflict and Russian atrocities in Ukraine.

Mariana Oleskiv: "People will be interested to know what happened and it is important to build memorials that remember the war, some tragic and valuable events.

This focus on tourism is a way, she said, to preserve historical memory, now that "the dramatic events experienced" during the nine-month-long Russian invasion are "still fresh".

Another stop on this future tourist route, which will have its own memorial, will be the Hostomel airport, liberated by Ukrainian soldiers.

In the meantime, the war continues and the priority now is to work with local tourism, which has dropped by 50% compared to 2021.

However, tourism officials doubt whether the time has come to launch these tourist destinations, as the war continues and the country cannot relax.

"We have worked hard to win the war and we all need to recharge our batteries and regain the strength to continue the fight for us," says the head of Ukrainian tourism.

Fortunately, the war has not destroyed the tourism infrastructure, says Oleskiv.

As for potential visitors, Ukraine's tourism campaign will focus on those who supported Ukraine in some way.

"The message is 'thank you for the support, for the donations, helping refugees and giving them jobs. Now we need you to come and spend money here. Help us financially'," Oleskiv continues.

Part of the tourism strategy would be to enlist the support of celebrities who have visited Ukraine during the war.