Some 122 million Chinese traveled abroad as tourists in 2016, spending $109.8 billion, the Chinese Tourism Academy estimates, with especially strong numbers in Thailand, Japan, Russia and the United Kingdom.
But only 20,000 Chinese tourists made it to Ukraine the same year. While a record number, it still represents less than 1 percent of Chinese tourists overseas.
Obviously, Ukraine has yet to be discovered by Chinese travelers.
“The one who comes first to the Chinese market and opens Ukraine for it, he will definitely get rich,” said Yulia Ulasyk, CEO of the Kyiv-based Center for Contemporary China Tianxia Link.
Maryna Ignatusha, CEO of Brandberg Ukrainian Incoming Tours, said Chinese tourists like modern comforts and many need translators, since only about half of them speak English.
Ignatusha said Chinese favor group travels and, apart from traditional sites in Kyiv and Lviv, have shown fondness for the Nikolay Ostrovsky museum in Khmelnytsky Oblast’s Shepetivka, as well as the Tunnel of Love, a section of industrial railway near Klevan in Rivne Oblast.
“They find interesting all related to the Soviet past, our aviation, our industry, our World War II museum in Kyiv,” Ignatusha said. Other big attractions are Chornobyl, balloon rides in Kamyanets-Podilsky and shooting guns in entertainment centers. Expensive brand stores are also popular.
Tourism obstacles
Viktor Kiktenko, president of Ukrainian Association of Sinologists, said “it’s a shame” that Ukraine lacks China-friendly venues, such a hotels and restaurants with the signs written in Chinese and staff workers who speak the language.
A poll by the China Tourism Academy shows that Chinese tourists pay close attention to traffic, food and shopping in choosing travel destinations.
Ukraine’s volatile security situation, rough infrastructure and lack of country information are big obstacles, Chinese Ambassador Du Wei said at an April 24 press conference, although he praised Ukraine’s start of visas on arrival for Chinese visitors in 2016. Chinese tourists arriving at Boryspil International Airport, Kyiv Zhuliany Airport and Odesa airport can receive 15-day visas upon arrival for $94.
To get an entry visa, tourists also must have a return ticket, hotel bookings, travel insurance and at least $110 per day to spend in Ukraine, Ignatusha said.
She said her agency tries to get scans of tourists’ passports and photos in advance to speed up the process. But visa upon arrival, she said, will increase the number of Chinese tourists soon.
Along with other tourist operators and Kyiv city officials, she’s going to Beijing and Shanghai on May 22 to promote tourism to Ukraine. On June 20, a Chinese delegation will make a return visit.
Yevheniy Ikhelzon, who co-owns I Love Asia tourist company in Ukriane, said his team is developing tours in Ukraine for Chinese and other Asian tourists. Ikhelzon said he hosted many Chinese tourists in Malaysia, where he operated a hotel for several years. Accustomed to the tastes and demands of Chinese travelers, he wants to host them in Ukraine.
“It’s important to make them see Ukraine not as a former part of Russia but as a unique country with a rich culture, tasty cuisine and natural treasures,” he said.
Kyiv Post staff writer Nataliya Trach contributed reporting to this story.
