Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective

Tourism in Ukraine

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tourism in Ukraine
Remove ads

Ukraine used to attract more than 20 million foreign citizens every year (23 million in 2012). But since 2014 this has lowered to about 10 million. Visitors primarily come from Eastern Europe, but also from Western Europe, as well as Turkey and Israel.[1]

Thumb
Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle, one of the Seven Wonders of Ukraine

Quick Facts

Before the Russo-Ukrainian War, Ukraine occupied 8th place in Europe by the number of tourists visiting, according to the World Tourism Organization rankings.[2] Ukraine has numerous tourist attractions: mountain ranges suitable for skiing, hiking and fishing: the Black Sea coastline as a popular summer destination; nature reserves of different ecosystems; churches, castle ruins and other architectural and park landmarks; various outdoor activity points. Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa and Kamyanets-Podilskyi were Ukraine's principal tourist centres each offering many historical landmarks as well as formidable hospitality infrastructure. Tourism used to be the mainstay of Crimea's economy, but there was a major fall in visitor numbers following the Russian annexation in 2014.[3]

The Seven Wonders of Ukraine and Seven Natural Wonders of Ukraine are the selection of the most important landmarks of Ukraine, chosen by the general public through an Internet-based vote.

Ukraine is a destination on the crossroads between central and eastern Europe, between north and south. It borders Russia and is not far from Turkey. It has mountain ranges – the Carpathian Mountains suitable for skiing, hiking, fishing and hunting. The coastline on the Black Sea is a popular summer destination for vacationers. Ukraine has vineyards where they produce native wines, ruins of ancient castles, historical parks, Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant churches as well as a few mosques and synagogues. Kyiv, the country's capital city has many unique structures such as Saint Sophia Cathedral and broad boulevards. There are other cities well known to tourists, such as the harbour town Odesa and the old city of Lviv in the west.[4] Most of Western Ukraine, which used to be within the borders of the Republic of Poland before World War II, is a popular destination for Poles. Crimea, a little "continent" of its own, had been a popular vacation destination for tourists for swimming or sun tanning on the Black Sea with its warm climate, rugged mountains, plateaus and ancient ruins, though the tourist trade has been severely affected by Russia's occupation and annexation of the territory in 2014.[5] Cities there include: Sevastopol and Yalta – location of the peace conference at the end of World War II. Visitors can also take cruise tours by ship on the Dnieper River from Kyiv to the Black Sea coastline. Ukrainian cuisine has a long history and offers a wide variety of original dishes.

The country's tourism industry is generally considered to be underdeveloped, but it does provide crucial support for Ukraine's economy. Ukraine does have certain advantages, including much lower costs than other European destinations, as well as visa-free access for most people from Europe, the former Soviet Union, and North America. Since 2005 citizens of European Union and EFTA, United States, Canada, Japan and South Korea no longer require a visa to visit Ukraine for tourism purposes.[6] Additionally, no visa is required from most countries of the former Soviet Union with the exceptions of Russia and Turkmenistan.

More information Country, Number ...
Remove ads

Popular tourist city destinations

Summarize
Perspective

Central Ukraine

Thumb
St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery in Kyiv.

Main cities

Western Ukraine

Thumb
The Bernardine church and monastery in Lviv
Thumb
Waterfall Zhenets in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast

Eastern Ukraine

Thumb
Sharivka Manor, Bohodukhiv Raion Kharkiv Oblast
  • Kharkiv – city's history started in the mid-17th century, when the Cossacks created the Sloboda settlements; and since then, the city has turned into one of the largest commercial, cultural and educational centers in Ukraine with a population of over 1.7 million people. From December 1919 to June 1934, Kharkiv was the capital of Soviet Ukraine, with Derzhprom being the highlight of the era. The Ukrainian cultural renaissance commenced here in the years 1920–1930.
  • Sviatohirsk – known for its monastery on hills.
  • Bakhmut – site of multiple historic buildings until their destruction during the Battle of Bakhmut.
  • Donetsk
  • Luhansk

Southern Ukraine

Thumb
Livadia Palace in Yalta (Crimean Southern Coast)
  • Odesa – a harbor city on the Black Sea with a mixture of different cultures, including Jewish, Armenian, German, Russian and Greek cultures along with the native Ukrainian culture. Odesa is a Black Sea resort and the largest trading center of Ukraine.
  • Zaporizhzhia – the sixth largest city in Ukraine, famous for Khortytsia Island, DniproHES and Sotsmisto (Socialist city) neighborhood.
  • Dnipro – the fourth largest city in Ukraine.
  • Izmail – a historic town on the Danube River in Odesa Oblast of south-western Ukraine.
  • Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi – one of the oldest cities in Ukraine, dating back to the ancient Greek colony of Tyras.
  • Sevastopol – a port city known for the ruins of Chersonesos Taurica, an ancient Greek settlement (currently under administration of the Russian Federation).
  • Bakhchysarai – the traditional capital of Crimean Tatars, known for its palace and cave town (currently under administration of the Russian Federation).
  • Kerch – among the oldest cities in Ukraine, with buildings and structures of ancient Greek, Byzantine, Ottoman, Imperial Russian, and Soviet eras (currently under administration of the Russian Federation).
  • Crimean Southern Coast (Crimean Riviera) – the coastline of Yalta and Alushta municipalities which covers many resort towns, especially known for the nature and palaces (currently under administration of the Russian Federation).
Remove ads

Landscapes

Summarize
Perspective

Seven Wonders of Ukraine

Thumb
Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle, 2019

The Seven Wonders of Ukraine are the seven historical and cultural monuments of Ukraine, which were chosen in the Seven Wonders of Ukraine contest held in July 2007.

Seven natural wonders of Ukraine

Thumb
Tourism in Ukraine

Winners of all Ukraine competition Seven natural wonders of Ukraine:

Recognized World Heritage sites

Main article: List of World Heritage Sites in Ukraine
Remove ads

Medical tourism

Lately many modern dental clinics with high quality dentistry equipment and high quality materials have been established in Ukraine. They provide patients with high quality dentistry services for prices much cheaper in comparison with Western and Russian clinics. Many tourists from United States, European Union and Russia arrive for dental services, providing a sort of dental tourism.

Other popular sorts of medical tourism in Ukraine are spas, eye and plastic surgery, hair transplants, and mud baths.

Truskavets and Myrhorod are well known for their mineral springs.

Religious tourism

Uman is a pilgrimage site for Breslov Hasidic Jews, especially on Rosh Hashana kibbutz.

Saint Sophia Cathedral and Kyiv Pechersk Lavra in Kyiv are sites of Eastern Orthodox pilgrimage.[9]

Events

Summarize
Perspective

Festival culture

Thumb
Thousands of tourists visit the festival of medieval culture "Silver Tatosh" in the castle of Saint-Miklos, Chynadiiovo, Zakarpattia Oblast
Thumb
Police patrol by bicycles in the tourist area of Lviv

In recent years a variety of festivals emerged in major Ukrainian cities. Among the most popular are international jazz festival in Lviv, street food festival in Kyiv, various summer festivals in Odesa—a popular tourist destination in summer. Many of these festivals take place in former industrial buildings of the Soviet era and are thus helping to rejuvenate these areas.

More information Type, Event ...

Trade fairs

More information City, Trade fair ...
Remove ads

Governing body of tourist industry and its chairs

  • Main Directorate of Foreign Tourism (at the Government of the Ukrainian SSR and part of the Soviet Goskominturist)
    • 1964–74 Yosyp Zatyahan
    • 1974–89 Viktor Dobrotvor
  • Ukrintur Association
    • 1989–93 Volodymyr Skrynnyk
  • State Committee of Ukraine on tourism
  • State Department of Tourism (State Committee of Youth Policy, Sport and Tourism)
    • 2001–02 Anatoliy Matviyenko
  • State Tourist Administration of Ukraine
    • 2002–05 Valeriy Tsybukh
  • State Service of Tourism and Resorts (Ministry of Culture and Tourism)
    • 2005–06 Ihor Prystavskyi
    • 2006–10 Anatoliy Pakhlya
  • State Agency of Ukraine on Tourism and Resorts (Ministry of Infrastructure)
    • 2011–14 Olena Shapovalova
  • Department (Directorate) of Tourism and Resorts (Ministry of Economic Development and Trade)
    • 2016–17 Ivan Liptuha
    • 2018–2019 Oksana Serdyuk
  • State Agency for Tourism Development of Ukraine (Ministry of Сulture and Іnformation Policy of Ukraine)
Remove ads

Foreign travel statistics

Summarize
Perspective
This section is transcluded from Visa policy of Ukraine#Visitor statistics. (edit | history)

Most visitors arriving in Ukraine were from the following countries of nationality:[10]

More information Country ...
Number of foreign citizens visiting Ukraine (from 2014, excluding Crimea)

Statistics are based on data from the State Statistics Agency of Ukraine.[11]

  • 2000: 6.4 million[11]
  • 2001: 9.2 million[11]
  • 2002: 10.5 million[11]
  • 2003: 12.5 million[11]
  • 2004: 15.6 million[11]
  • 2005: 17.6 million[11]
  • 2006: 18.9 million[11]
  • 2007: 23.1 million[11]
  • 2008: 25.4 million[11]
  • 2009: 20.8 million[11]
  • 2010: 21.2 million[11]
  • 2011: 21.4 million[11]
  • 2012: 23.0 million[11]
  • 2013: 24.7 million[11]
  • 2014: 12.7 million[11]
  • 2015: 12.4 million[11]
  • 2016: 13.3 million[11]
  • 2017: 14.2 million[11]
Remove ads

Gallery

Remove ads

See also

References

External links

Loading related searches...

Wikiwand - on

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.

Remove ads
Remove ads