In May the Museum of Folk Architecture and Life in Pyrohove traditionally attracts groups of tanned Crimeans, cheerful Bukovynians, Hutsuls, residents of Gogol’s famous village of Dykanka, friendly Lvivites, and many other guests. They talk to the residents of Ukraine’s capital about how they can spend their vacations in an orchard under a pear tree and an updated version of the traditional country home with stereo equipment and other modern amenities.
A WEEK IN AN ORCHARD
The term “rural green tourism” was introduced in Ukraine several years ago when villagers, tired of chronic unemployment and lack of cash, began searching for a way to earn a living. At the same time, rural vacations have always been popular in our country. In the late 1800s Ivan Franko, Lesia Ukrainka, and Mykhailo Hrushevsky went to their summer cottages in the Carpathians to restore their health.
Today there are few city dwellers who do not dream, at least once a year, of leaving everything behind and heading to their parents or grandparents in the countryside to drink warm milk, enjoy the wholesome fresh air, and do some fishing in the peace and quiet.
But what do you do if you don’t have any relatives living in the countryside? Village residents attacked this problem by offering their homes as mini-hotels. Their efforts are assisted by the all-Ukrainian Union for Promoting Green Tourism, which advertises this increasingly popular vacation trend and holds training and seminars for host families by teaching them how to accommodate guests in such a way that they will want to keep coming back.
This year representatives from 22 oblasts in Ukraine and the Crimea came to Pyrohove to extend their invitation to visitors. The fair was opened by one of its honorary guests, Yurii Bohutsky, Ukraine’s Culture and Tourism Minister. He said that Ukrainians’ confidence in green tourism is steadily rising. For example, in 2004 a little over 300 homeowners opened up their homes to green tourists. Today the figure has risen to 2,200. The government is trying to encourage this sector legislatively by issuing regulations and launching programs.
However, Bohutsky admitted that these legislative measures are not enough to resolve all the issues encountered by prospective host families. This problem was discussed at a meeting of the National Reform Press Club, which took place after the ceremonial opening of the fair in the building of a parochial school located on the grounds of the Museum of Folk Architecture and Life.
SERVICES AND ENTERTAINMENT
The sunny oblast of Mykolaiv occupies the area where the steppes that extend along the Southern Buh and Inhulets rivers meet the Black Sea. The rich earth of this land, with its velvety beaches and abundance of fruits and vegetables, attracts tourists like a magnet.
The co-owner of Deep Autumn Farm, Vadym Kostyrko, started his green tourism business seven years ago. He began by purchasing a small plot of land (0.15 ha) where he built a house. Now he proudly shows off a colorful brochure with pictures of charming wooden cottages. He says they offer top-level service that will satisfy even the most fastidious guests, which is why he has no shortage of them both in summer and winter.
“When it gets cold, people come here to hunt,” says Vadym. “We have quite a few clients who come every year. The bulk of our visitors are middle-class people (urban intellectuals and students) because 100 hryvnias a night in a two- or three-bedroom suite, with three meals a day, is quite affordable for many people.”
Poltava oblast invites tourists to the banks of the Khorol and Sula rivers, Velyki Sorochyntsi and Dykanka, and the village of Opishnia in Zinkiv raion, the capital of Ukrainian pottery. To make your impressions last, you should take a ride on horseback and visit such architectural and natural monuments as Ivan Kotliarevsky’s house, a park dedicated to the Battle of Poltava, and the Gogol Museum. Today the oblast has 50 country homes where green tourists can stay.
Dykanka leads the way with 12 houses. The owners’ main problem is the lack of an advertising budget. The oblast council helped resolve part of the problem by providing 200,000 hryvnias for the development of rural green tourism.
If you choose to visit the village of Mohyliv in Dnipropetrovsk oblast, you can travel back in time to the age of the Cossacks.
This year entrepreneurs from Luhansk came to Pyrohove, venturing for the first time to compete with experienced tourism businessmen from the central and western oblasts. It turns out that besides mines and huge metallurgical plants, the oblast has quiet picturesque nooks with green groves and warm lakes.
“Tourists flock to Komunarsk, where archeological excavations are now underway. Archeologists say they have discovered a culture that is several thousands of years old,” says Oleksandr Panteleiev, the head of the Luhansk branch of the Green Tourism Union. “At Vira Annusova’s house, which bears the quaint name “A House Wrapped Up in Warm Weather,” visitors are offered one- and two-day walking tours in Striletsky Steppe, horseback riding, fishing, and a chance to pick medicinal herbs.
Alina and Natalia Onopky’s house is located in the Novopskov area, which is famous for the wholesome air of its coniferous forests. These two hostesses offer delicious Ukrainian dishes and take willing guests to the Church of the Holy Assumption and St. Nicholas’s Church of All Saints.
Moderate prices (roughly 50 hryvnias a day) are steadily attracting more people who want to vacation in the countryside. The one thing that is missing is legislation that would define such business relationships in this sector as income tax payments and loans.
FOUR LEADERS
As far as supply and demand in green tourism are concerned, four western oblasts (Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Transcarpathia, and Chernivtsi) continue to lead the pack. The main attractions here are alpine skiing and joyful celebrations of New Year’s and Christmas. In the summer people are drawn to this area by its picturesque landscapes, fresh air, and crystal-clear waters of mountain rivers. Tourists can go berry and mushroom picking, hike in the mountains, listen to folk music, and visit local wooden churches. The most popular green tourism resorts in the Carpathians are Yaremche, Verkhovyna, Kosiv, Pidzakharychi, Putyla, Vyzhnytsia, Yabluchnytsia, Yasenia, and Rakhiv.
“Our family-my husband, our two children, and I-have been active in this business for four years,” says Yevdokiia Falafivka, the owner of a private home in the village of Pidzakharychi in Putyla raion, Chernivtsi oblast. “At first we had one house; now we have two. They can accommodate 25 adults with children. We have all sorts of amenities here, a Russian steam bath, and a massage room. We don’t have employees. Of course, we have to work from morning until night but it’s worth it. Besides Ukrainians, we have guests from Italy and the US. We have only one problem — no money to advertise our services. Now we can accommodate up to 30 people and we plan to expand our business.”
RISKS AND PROSPECTS
“Today rural areas in Ukraine are not developing as they used to in Soviet times. Collective farms fell into decay, leaving peasants on their own to face their problems. That is why rural green tourism has the potential to become a lifesaver for them,” says Anatolii Pakhlia, head of the State Tourism and Health Resorts Service. “For a long time now our neighbors — the Poles, Czechs, Hungarians, and Balts-have been successfully developing green tourism in their countries. Furthermore, a prosperous tourism sector improves the infrastructure of the rural area and environmental conditions. We already have a certain legislative basis for successfully developing rural green tourism into a separate branch. However, a serious state program that would foster its growth is still lacking.”
The taxation issue also remains a mystery to homeowners. If they have to pay taxes, the majority of them say they would have to close their businesses. Serhii Chmyria, head of the Parliamentary Subcommittee on the Social Development of Rural Territories, Social and Labor Relations, and Property Reforms in the Agricultural Sector, said that he has authored two bills on rural green tourism and submitted them to parliament. However, he did not say how soon they are likely to be passed. Perhaps the new Verkhovna Rada, which, to all appearances, we will soon have to elect, will present villagers with a solution to this burning issue.
