Despite the war brought about by Russia’s invasion of the country continuing to rage, Ukraine is already planning ahead for a recovery of its tourism industry.
“We are doing work now on the future plan for the recovery of tourism in Ukraine,” said Mariana Oleskiv, Ukraine’s tourism minister in an interview with Investment Monitor.
Ms Oleskiv went on to say: “Ukraine has received a lot of interest worldwide and in general it has been positive interest, but the challenge for us is to get people to see the country as a future tourism destination too. The country doesn’t look like a world destination in general for tourists right now, I get it, but for us it is important to maintain another image of Ukraine: that it is a well-developed country with a good infrastructure, with a lot of things to do, with huge tourism potential and rich culture and rich history; we want to tell that story now.
“Then after the war is over, we plan to launch a campaign to attract people as a show of support for Ukraine: for people to come here to spend their money here, to meet Ukrainians and tell them: ‘Thank you for being brave, for fighting for democracy and stopping the evil terrorist state of Russia.”
She said Ukraine’s tourism plan will partially surround medical tourism and will also include Crimea as a future part of the country again after the war and current occupation.
“Because of the war we will have a big need for rehabilitation centres to treat wounded soldiers. With this comes a focus, in the future, on medical tourism. This can present some interesting options for investors [in this realm of healthcare]. There will be a lot of investment opportunities in Ukraine going forward – and even now,” Ms Oleskiv said.
