USA Today

www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2004-03-29-carpathians_x.htm

European tourists drawn to Ukrainian Carpathians PYLYPETS, Ukraine (AFP) As he prepares to slide down the ski slopes of Pylypets, Soltz, a Hungarian businessman, is full of enthusiasm for his vacation in Ukraine's western Carpathian mountains.

"I love skiing here," he said, pledging to come back the next year to what has become a growing attraction for European tourists.
Flocking from all over eastern Europe, particularly Ukraine's neighbors Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, they have become regular visitors to the Carpathians, even if the region's tourist infrastructure leaves a lot to be desired for exacting Europeans.

According to official estimates, nearly 12.5 million tourists visited this ex-Soviet republic last year, a 19-percent rise from the 2002 figures.
"Foreigners are rediscovering our country," said Yana Kobenets, an agent for a small travel agency Bussol in the nearby town of Uzhgorod. In this year's first two months, she alone mapped out schedules for over a dozen of them.

The Carpathians attract mainly young people less than 30 years of age, especially students who "do not hesitate to venture into a little-known country and do not have a lot of money to spend," Kobenets explained.

In Ukrainian ski stations, those on a tight budget can find lodging for less than three dollars a night, at prices drastically different from those in Slovakia or Poland. Tourism could become a blessing for Ukraine, which rivals France in size and boasts a 48-million population, but whose industry is yet to recover from the turbulent post-Soviet years.

In the Carpathians, famed for their forest-covered mountains and thermal springs, hotels, ski stations and rural spas have been sprouting like mushrooms.
At Pylypets, new ski lifts opened in December to the delight of skiers seeking to use the last snows and spring sun in March.

The installation of a 1.5-kilometer ski-tow, management of trails and acquisition of a snow-machine cost tens of thousands of dollars, the station's director Volodymyr Petrysch, said, adding that these expenses would be paid off within three years. "This year we are scheduled to construct other ski-tows and a chair-lift," Petrysch said, warning however that investors often found themselves entangled in Ukraine's complicated tax system as well as corruption.

"The state should support enterprises such as ours, by giving us tax privileges, even if it is only for two or three years," said Petrysch, who also presides over a non-governmental organisation supporting countryside holidays.

Over the past four years, this NGO each summer welcomed tourist groups from Belgium seeking lodging with local peasants, and organised walking trips to the mountains for a total cost of 10 dollars a day.

Rebirth of tourism in Ukraine's Carpathians could also create jobs in the region, the poorest in the country where a quarter of the population lives below the poverty level.

"Thanks to this ski station, I can earn my living," said Lyudmila, a young local woman who makes several dollars a day by selling tea and biscuits to the skiers Copyright 2004 Agence France-Presse. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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