In Ukraine the sphere of tourism and resorts of today is not fulfilling its full economic, social and humanitarian functions, is not conducive to filling the budgets of all levels, creation of new jobs and the increase in the weight of services in the structure of the gross domestic product.
This was during the parliamentary hearings on the theme “the Development of the tourism industry as a tool for economic development and investment attractiveness of Ukraine”, said MP, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on family matters, youth policy, sports and tourism Arthur Ward.
In his opinion, the problems of the tourist sphere in Ukraine caused by a number of external and internal factors, primarily the Russian annexation of Crimea and aggression in Eastern regions, which discourages potential tourists, as well as imperfect state control in the sphere of tourism.
“Russia occupied Crimea with its huge tourist and recreational potential, foreign tourists deters the war in Eastern Ukraine and the lack of guarantees of security of stay on the territory of our state. However, the state policy in the sphere of tourism is almost not implemented by the Executive branch, still have not adopted the State target program of development of tourism and resorts of Ukraine, the Cabinet of Ministers in 2016, has not allocated any hryvnia for the tourist sphere, including national advertising of the tourist product on the international market. As a result, Ukraine is rapidly losing its popularity as a tourist state,” said Ward.
The head of the profile Committee is convinced that with due attention from the government, political will of the leadership of the state tourism can become an important factor and even a driving force for socio-economic development of society.
“Ukraine has a huge potential, all the prerequisites in order to enter the list of the most developed tourist countries in the world. One of the most promising from the point of view of investment experts have called the development of hotel business in Ukraine. Our unique cultural and natural objects can and should be a source of financial receipts to the budget and to provide jobs for Ukrainian citizens,” said Ward.
