Ukraine's tourism industry grows

Ukraine was visited by over 26 million tourists in 2013, 1.5 million more than in 2012. The announcement was made by Oleksandr Vilkul, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister, the Information-Analytical Bulletin of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine informs.

“Every year Ukraine attracts more and more tourists. This sector of economy is one of the most dynamically growing and promising in the world, and the government pays special attention to its development," Vilkul said.

According to him, development and expansion of freight traffic, particularly air traffic is an important component of developing a tourism potential of Ukraine. Among the priorities, Vilkul also highlighted development of hotel infrastructure, improvement of service and promoting Ukraine in the world.

Experts expect that in 2014 Ukraine's State Agency for Tourism and Resorts will finalize the State target program of development of tourism and resorts by 2022. The program will help double the flow of tourists, or achieve a growth of 5% annually. It is envisioned that the number of foreign tourists visiting Ukraine, will reach 50 million people annually by 2022. But most importantly, the tourism industry will be able to double the jobs. Thus, the total number of employees in this area will reach 1 million people. Also, according to the program, the budget revenues will grow by 230%, to UAH 5 billion by 2023.

In 2013, the tourism industry generated 1.59 billion UAH, or 13% more budget revenues year-on-year. Revenues from tourist tax grew by 8.6%, and reached 41.7 million UAH.