Ukraine's official statistical agency reports that Ukraine had 18.9 million tourists in 2006, a substantial increase from the 17.6 million counted in 2005. However, local tourist business professionals suggest that these figures are grossly exxagerated because of the way in which the state does it tabulation. A highly respected website offers a tourist arrivals figure of 7.356 million for Ukraine, a figure that is considered much closer to reality and probably a bit inflated even at that.
Of the seven countries that share borders with Ukraine, three far outstrip it in tourist business. Ukraine is far behind Poland, Hungary and Russia, which count annual tourist arrivals of 19.5,17.3 and 15.3 million respectively. The four other countries on Ukraine's borders, Romania, Slovakia, Belarus and Moldova, have tourist arrivals of 2.95 million, 814,000, 254,000 and 21,000 respectively.
We set out to talk to some of Ukraine's tourism professionals and some tourists about their views of how much progress Ukraine has made and what it needs to do to improve tourism's contributions to the Ukrainian economy.
Walk down Kyiv's Volodymyrska Street on any spring or summer morning and you are likely to notice a number of large European touring buses in groups of two or three at the roadside. The buses could be from anyplace in Europe, but tend to originate from Germany more than any other country.
There is another type of tourist, almost 100 percent male, and their reasons for venturing to Ukraine vary depending on their intentions. Some come as a part of well-planned tours that, at least theoretically, involve meeting Ukrainian women who have an interest in marrying a foreigner. The statistics are unclear as to how many of them actually meet a person whom they later marry, but the anecdotal evidence strongly suggests that the process has resulted in several thousands of marriages between foreign men and Ukrainian women over the last decade.
Peter, a 49-year-old food-engineer from Munich, Germany, told the UO that he came to Kyiv first in 2001. After first good impressions of the people and the opportunities Kyiv offers for tourists, he got into his first bad experience.
"I was checked by police at night. I had no passport with me; as a result, I had long discussion with the policemen," he said.
Since then, Peter has visited Kyiv about 30 times on business, to see friends and to vacation here for periods ranging from two days to two weeks. As an example of what the inexperienced visitor might face, Peter said that on one early trip he had quite a problem with a cab driver. "At the end of a trip this guy asked me to pay him $80 instead of 80 Ukrainian hryvnia (UAH). I "offered" him to call the police and he decided to accept the 80 hryvnia."
The tourist agencies warn that Ukrainian guests should be ready for such situations. Irene Trantina, a director of products from one of the leading local incoming tour operators OLYMP Travel Ltd., working in the market for 14 years, recommends tourists to use only taxis, but not private cars. She also warns that a foreigner can easily become a victim of public transport robbers. "But it's possible in every country. Certain rules of safety for tourists are to be followed everywhere," she added.
Staying in Ukraine can be more pleasant and easier if a tourist uses services of tour operators and agencies. For example, Bob from Salt Lake City came to the country for the first time but doesn't have any complaints. He has arrived to adopt a child and spent 25 days in the northern Ukrainian city of Sumy.
"The language was a problem there. It was hard even at McDonald's...But I have my interpreter with me everywhere. She is my guardian angel," he told the Observer.
The services of a travel agency make the whole trip more expensive, but a guest avoids a number of problems because the operator takes all responsibility for his client.
Ukraine can't offer any special services for foreign guests. It is waste of time to look for any information tourist center or any organization, helping visitors in trouble. "Even in Kyiv we do not have any information tourist bureau of the type that exists throughout the world. For ten years this has been a subject of discussion, but still nothing has been done," Stepan Romanyuk, the president of the International Tourist Agency Ukraine-Rus, dealing with incoming tourism for 15 years, told the Observer.
While state tourism support leaves a great deal to be desired, there is an increasingly wide range of choices so far as accommodation. The Ukrainian capital has about 120 hotels but only two of them belong to world-known chains. These are the 4-star Radisson SAS Hotel Kiev, launched in 2005, and the recently opened 5-star Hyatt Regency Saint Sophia Kyiv, where the lowest priced single room costs at least $430 per night during the summer season.
After many years during which there really was no such thing as a five star or even four star hotel in Kyiv, business travelers who really want top flight accommodations have several options and no less than 1,000 rooms that meet international business standards. First came the Premier Palace, followed by the Radisson, the Opera and the Hyatt Regency. By the end of 2007, at least one and possibly more world-class hotels should join those in existence.
However, tour operators say that the average tourist cannot or will not afford the higher prices of the top quality hotels. Instead they opt for the comfortable but much older hotels such as the Dnipro, the Kyiv, the Kyivsky Rus, the Khreshchatyk and the Kyivsky President where one may find rooms at an average of about $125 per night.
Not everyone is pleased with the hotel options. "The choice of hotels in Ukraine is very poor... I can't even compare local hotels with western ones because the low quality of service and meals, and unfriendly staff," Peter complained.
Market insiders say that insignificant competition on the market cause unreasonably high prices for suites. It makes renting of private apartments more attractive, although not safer.
"We try to place our clients at hotels because there is an administration there and we can guarantee something [safety there]," Romanyuk said.
Romanyuk also pointed out that state statistics are grossly inflated and use the total number of persons who cross the border, rather than accurately reflecting Ukraine's true tourist business. "A tourist is a person who spent at least 24 hours in the country and spent a night here...If a group came from Krakow (Poland) to Lviv on an excursion and left at the same day, they can't be considered as tourists; they are simple visitors," Romanyuk said.
While there are still problems with coming to Ukraine, one major hurdle has been made immensely easier. Anyone arriving at any of Ukraine's international airports may gain entry, at least if they happen to carry a passport issued by any of 36 countries for which Ukraine's visa regime was abolished.
The Kyiv City State Administration registered 209,000 tourists in the capital in 2006. Considering that Kyiv is the destination of most persons visiting Ukraine, that number alone tends to bring into question the more expansive numbers quoted by state tourist officials.
"I think that of the whole number of real foreign tourists, those from the West rather than the former Soviet Union, about 90 percent comes to Kyiv because of International Airport here," Trantina said.
Market insiders refuse even to suggest the approximate number of people visiting Ukraine who might be considered real tourists. Trantina said that OLYMP Travel Ltd., which is one of the largest among incoming tour operators, accepted only 10,000 people in 2006.
According to the State Service, the second most popular destination is Crimea, followed by Lviv. Also, there are increasing significant numbers of tourists visiting Odesa and the Zakarpattya region. The latter two have gained popularity with visitors from neighboring countries.
Most of Ukraine's visitors come from Russia (about 34 percent), many to a long time favorite Russian destination, the Crimean coastal region. The second largest number of visitors comes from Poland (about 21 percent), partly because of commerce and partly because of family relationships dating back to the period when what is now western Ukraine was a part of Poland. Also, there are substantial numbers of visitors from neighboring Moldova, Belarus, Hungary and Romania. About one percent of visitors come from the United States and about the same number from Germany. Tour operators also add that the number of Swedes and Australians visiting the country is growing.
Having said that, it must also be said that Ukraine is one of the few countries in the region that has done nothing in the way of major television advertising. Any viewer of international television channels such as BBC World, CNN and CNBC is inundated with highly effective tourism advertising for Egypt, India and Russia. And it isn't just the larger countries. Some of the most creative international television advertising in recent months has been for tourism in Croatia - and even tiny Georgia.
When Ukraine will wake up to the potential of effectively advertising its attractions - and making them more easily accessible remains to be seen.
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