President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky will set the task for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to consider the possibility of liberalizing the visa regime for foreigners visiting Ukraine for tourist purposes.
At a meeting with representatives of the tourism industry in the Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle on June 4, he expressed the opinion that visas could be canceled for citizens of China, Australia, New Zealand or Arab countries who come to Ukraine as tourists, the presidential press service reported.
“We need to liberalize the visa policy: if countries cancel visas for Ukrainians who come to them, then we cancel visas for them. We need to challenge for tourists,” Zelensky said.
According to tour operators, a foreigner spends $120-150 per day in Ukraine and he is on average for three-four days in Ukraine.
The president called on industry representatives to work together to motivate foreign tourists to visit unique places in the country.
“There are places in Ukraine that are absent in other countries and that one wants to look at and show them to a western tourist. What can we do this summer to attract a foreign western tourist who brings money?” he said.
The head of state also noted that now, due to the coronavirus pandemic and the closure of borders, opportunities have appeared for the development of domestic tourism, and the Ukrainian government intends to work to increase the tourist attractiveness of Ukraine.
Zelensky proposed defining a “tourist magnet” in each region of Ukraine – an object that could be developed by government and business circles in order to attract tourists. “My logic was simple: to make a history of ‘magnets’ in each region. There is something unfinished somewhere or it needs to be rebuilt in some place. This is your business. We are interested in developing it and filling the budget,” he explained.
Representatives of the tourism industry noted that today an unprecedented window of opportunities for tourism development has really opened, but there is not enough time for this. They indicated that it is necessary to break the stereotype that traveling around Ukraine is unfashionable. Therefore, in their opinion, to start a media campaign to popularize tourism in Ukraine is among the main tasks.
