Newspaper "Zlagoda" 31
January 2004
THE CARPATHIAN
REGION IS FAVOURABLE FOR TOURISM.
Today,
tourism is the most developed and one of the most dynamic branches of
the world economy. Tourism engages about 10% of the world manpower and
produces about 10% of the world gross income. According to the experts,
tourism’s annual growth will increase by 5% over the next five years
which in turn will create two million new jobs worldwide.
Òourism is
a sector of economy which deserves more attention in Ukraine. This
sector may serves as a considerable contribution to the country’s
economy by creating new jobs, attracting foreign direct investments,
which will bring additional revenues to the state budget.Tourism is an industry with a high
level of competition. More than 100 countries compete for the world’s
tourist markets today which are a subject to a constant change.
Nowadays tourists look for environmentally safe places with vast
opportunities for active recreational activities combined with rich
cultural and social experiences.
The Carpathian region of
Ukraine offers just that! Carpathian Mountains are blessed by clean
air, pure rivers and lakes, picturesque landscapes, and architectural
wonders, unique folklore heritage. Most importantly, it is blessed by
wonderful people who preserve our national customs and traditions.
The Carpathian region could
attract significant numbers of modern tourists by satisfying their
growing demand for safe and better standards. Unfortunately, this is
not happening for these main reasons: lack of government budget
resources directed at carrying out marketing and promoting activities
which leads to little or no information available for foreign tourists;
visa requirements which reflects poorly on attraction of potential
tourists from abroad.
If, for instance, a
Western tourist decides to visit our region, he might experience rude
treatment by the customs officials, infrastructure difficulties, and
other hardships which, of course, create a negative image for the
country as a whole. Many if not all of the Central and Eastern European
countries have already cancelled visa requirements for the United
States, Canadian, and European Union members. Moreover, they actively
support carrying out direct marketing activities to attract as many
Western tourists as possible. For example, trains in Czech Republic or
Croatia are fast and comfortable, their law-enforcement officials don’t
spend most of the day stopping cars or buses, quality of services in
their airports is getting better every day since their immigration
officers began to realize the value of each tourist coming to their
countries. In order to compete at such level, Ukraine needs to address
and solve its problems as soon as possible!
Further
development of tourist industry in Ukraine may benefit the environment.
Because of the work of Research and Development Center of the
Carpathian Region “Karpathy—USA”, tourism in Ivano-Frankivsk region may
rather effectively assist environmental preservation by creating new
jobs for people with low income at the same time.
XXI century tourists will be “rich in money but poor in time.” As a
result, it will lead to an increasing demand for high quality products
for tourists, such as benefits packages which imply getting maximum
pleasure in a short period of time. That is why nowadays people prefer
thematic cruises or tourist guides with multiple opportunities to visit
great number of places in a relatively short time intervals.
Ivano-Frankivsk
region, also called Precarpathia, is located in the western part of
Ukraine on the south-east foothills of the Carpathian Mountains.
Overall territory of this region is 13.9 thousands square miles with
the population of 1.4 million people. Carpathian Mountains are
frequently referred as the “Ukrainian Alps” for its beautiful
landscapes, salubrious microclimate, and comfortable geographical
location.
Most famous recreational areas in the region are: Yaremche, Morshyn,
Cherche, Berkut, Verkhovyna, Osmoloda which produces mineral water
brands called “Borzhomi” and “Myrgorodska”; health resorts in Vorokhta,
Tatariv, Kosiv where rarefied mountainous air in ensemble with the
right amount of ultra-violet rays, high content of ozone and photons
produces a very good environment for active treatment of respiratory
illnesses and cardiovascular diseases.
Precarpathia
is an attractive and wonderful landmark to interested tourists. The
Carpathian national natural park with its highest peak called “Goverla”
(2061 meters, highest mountain in Ukraine), Manyava Skit, Dovbush
museum, Dovbush rocks and caves is visited by thousands of people from
different parts of the world annually. Natural habitat here is very
favorable for active tourism as one of the ways of recreational therapy.
The
evergreen Carpathians is a kingdom of unique views surrounded by
coniferous and mixed forests. They are regarded as the pearl of our
land. Picturesque landscapes change like in kaleidoscope. For a
traveling tourist, there is an every day chance to see our beautiful
villages and meet our hospitable and wonderful people. Unique nature,
places of historic and cultural interest, peculiar features of
mountaineers’ lifestyle will always attract tourists to the
Carpathians. These mountains are equally beautiful during winter and
summer seasons.
Taking into account findings of the International Trade Organization on
the tendencies of the tourism development in the 21st century combined
with compiled scientific and research expeditions knowledge of tourist
demands, we have concluded that today most of domestic and foreign
tourists want to travel to the places of animated and exotic nature
where they can experience cultural and social environment and share
some of the local customs and traditions.
For adventure seekers in Ukraine, we could organize three-day guided
tours down the Dniester River with stops at the most interesting
places. It is also possible to go rafting, canoeing and water-skiing
there. With its large numbers of lakes, rivers and ponds, Dniester area
offers excellent potential for a fishing tourism. It just has to be
properly registered and advertised. We could also look into possibility
to partner with interested parties and build small and medium summer
cottages on the river banks which will give tourists and opportunity to
stay here for a couple of days. One of the ideas, for example, is to
have the biggest caught fish competition scheduled for every weekend.
In conclusion, let me point out that
by providing high satisfactory standards for Western tourists develops
tourism industry in the Carpathians. It will stimulate region’s economy
as a whole which in turn will create new jobs and increase living
standards of its population.
Yaroslav Kabin,
Head of the Board,
Research and Development Center of the
Carpathian region “Karpathy—USA”
tel.: (03422) 2-38-39, tel. mob.: (067)
943-71-80
|
Kryva str. 4A/34, Ivano-Frankivsk,
76018, Ukraine
|
òåë.: (03422) 2-38-39,
òåë. ìîá.: (067) 943-71-80
|
âóë. Êðèâà 4À/34, ì.
²âàíî-Ôðàíê³âñüê, 76018, Óêðà¿íà
|
