On the eve of the Eurovision song contest tour operators have joined forces. Kyiv Tourist is now promising that we will be receiving guests on a fitting level. The main players on the tourist market claim that visitors will be provided with a whole range of services that are part and parcel of the concept of tourism.
There are some dissenting voices: there are about 30-40 hotel rooms per thousand people in Europe and only 5 or 6 in the capital of Ukraine. (In Russia this index is nine.) Yevhen Samartsev, deputy head of the Tourism Administration of Ukraine, admits there will be a shortage of three-star rooms and that “it would be a good idea to build two or three more five-star hotels.”
Another example: while Moscow already has 7 well-known chain hotels, Ukraine can only boast of having built one Radisson. Moreover, the construction of these kinds of buildings is always ridden with scandals in Kyiv.
Still, there is a spirit of optimism among tour operators, who have set up a sort of special association on the eve of the Eurovision context. While more than 193,000 tourists visited Ukraine last year, it is anyone’s guess how many more will come because of the contest. Although there are no official statistics, it is known that 3,500 hotel reservations have been booked. The joint efforts by tour operators were necessary in order to persuade hotel owners not to raise prices unjustifiably (incidentally, they promised not to last Wednesday). There is also a lingering suspicion that the chief players on this country’s tourism market were guided not only by a healthy desire to welcome Kyiv’s guests in a decent manner but also by the fact that the National Television and Radio Company of Ukraine has chosen one rather obscure company as the main tourist organizer. It is this firm that is going to receive the principal flow of visitors and, hence, funds.
According to Ihor Holubakha, representative of the united tour operators and president of Hamaliya Company, there will be 100-% occupancy in Kyiv’s hotels during the contest. Usually, this index never exceeds 75%, which is still a positive figure for this type of endeavor in Ukrainian conditions. As part of the contest promotion campaign, there are plans to issue a catalog of cultural events, as well as guidebooks on Kyiv in English, Russian, and German. In addition, the State Tourism Administration of Ukraine is going to present the English-language book A Stroll in Kyiv to the heads of all delegations visiting the capital during the contest. A number of video films on Ukraine’s tourism potential will be shown on the main TV channels. Plans are also afoot to mint a special coin in honor of the contest.
People in the tourism business readily admit that Kyiv will find it hard to provide guests with integrated services because of the lack of transport, interpreters, and public catering facilities. At the same time, tour operators have cause to rejoice: the government has promised to allow visa-free entry to citizens of countries (above all, EU members) that do not create any problems with illegal migration. Mr. Holubakha assured The Day that the association of tour operators will be doing its best to make sure that the cancellation of visas encourages the influx of paying guests to Ukraine even after the Eurovision contest.
INCIDENTALLY
The Kyiv City Administration has instructed the Kyivavtodor Municipal Corporation to replace the asphalt and concrete finish of Khreshchatyk Boulevard before April 30, Interfax-Ukraine reports. The Traffic Inspection Department of the Kyiv Metropolitan Police Department was requested to consider and approve a feasibility report and divert traffic while the work will be in progress. The document was signed in compliance with the Cabinet of Ministers’ resolution “On Approving the Plan to Prepare and Hold the Eurovision- 2005 Song Contest.”
