The Ukrainian travel industry responds to demand and changes to meet the needs of travelers. Thus, in all popular destinations, there are more opportunities for recreation with children, and the geography of departure points is expanding, both for bus and air tours. Join UP! tm tour operator has analyzed the main destinations and vacation formats that will be in demand this year.
Early start
Recent statistics show that tourists are more likely to start the summer season in the spring. Mostly we are talking about the Mediterranean countries: Turkey, Spain, Cyprus, and the Greek islands.
At this time, the weather in this region is almost summer-like – the average air temperature is +25°C and the water temperature is +19-20°C, and prices are lower and there are fewer tourists. Accordingly, tourists have a better chance of booking even the most popular hotels in high season and taking excursions that are already available in the spring months.
In addition, spring is a period of flowering, which makes the southern landscapes even more interesting. Another reason why traveling in spring is gradually becoming more popular is the rise in summer temperatures. Those who do not like excessive heat plan trips in April and May.
Leaders of queries
The list of the most popular vacation destinations remains unchanged – Turkey (from 8026 UAH*) and Egypt (from 17 281 UAH*). The countries differ in climate and nature, but are similar in their wide range of all-inclusive hotels. At the same time, both countries have a wide range of excursions, so even when returning to the resort, you can get new impressions again and again.
European resorts are also in great demand: Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus, Spain, Montenegro, and Spain. The share of tourists choosing these countries is growing every year. At the same time, each country has its own specifics. For example, Albania (from 17,027 UAH*) has the cheapest all-inclusive format for its region, Cyprus (from 17,689 UAH*) has an active nightlife, which is why it is popular with young people, and Crete (from 10,292 UAH*) is popular for excursions and natural locations, Montenegro (from 16,008 UAH*) is more often traveled by those who like to travel around the country, and Spain (from 26,958 UAH*) is appreciated for its combination of urban recreation, beautiful landscapes and amusement parks for children.
Tunisia (from 18,585 UAH*) is also worth mentioning, as the demand for it has been growing steadily in recent years. If last year Join UP! tm offered tours to this resort only with departures from Romania and Poland, now trips are also available from popular airports in Poland and Moldova and even Lithuania.
Tunisia attracts with a combination of high service (the country has a large concentration of hotels of global chains), beautiful beaches and a rich excursion program covering the Sahara, Carthage and the town of Sidi Bou Said, which is known for its traditional architecture in blue and white colors and spectacular sea views.
Exotic destinations
Traveling to distant countries – from equatorial Africa to the islands in the Indian Ocean or the coast of North America – has always been a relatively small but stable segment of demand. The Dominican Republic, the Maldives, Mexico, Tanzania (Zanzibar), and Sri Lanka attract many people, but the price often remains a deterrent.
However, recently, some tourists have been booking trips to these countries in the summer, when it is the low season. Prices during this period are much lower, and it is also possible to get into hotels that are usually unavailable in winter due to a significant increase in the number of tourists.
The price of traveling in summer is different from the main season, because hotels in this season make a discount of 20% to 50%. Thus, you can fly to the Maldives for a week from 63,948 UAH* per person, to Zanzibar from 61,551 UAH* per person (7 nights in a hotel), to Sri Lanka from 58,244 UAH* per person (7 nights in a hotel), to the Dominican Republic from 86,225 UAH* per person (9 nights in a hotel).
Vacations with children
Women with children have been one of the most active categories of travelers in recent years. This has led to some changes in the market: now most destinations are adapted to accommodate families with children. This applies to suitable hotels with animation and amusement parks, as well as excursion programs.
Popular air tours to Turkey for two adults with a child start at 22,406 UAH*. A trip to Montenegro for a similar number of tourists will cost from 47,590 UAH*, and to the islands: from 27,998 UAH* in Crete (Greece) and from 47,899 UAH* in Cyprus. A trip for two adults with a child to the Maldives will cost from 187,291 UAH*.
There is also an option to travel by bus. Thus, a trip to Bulgaria for two adults with a child will cost from 17,865 UAH*. You can go there from Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Lviv, and Kyiv. You can also travel to Turkey by bus: for two adults with a child, the trip will cost from 27,438 UAH*. Buses depart from Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Odesa, and Kyiv. It is worth noting that the service on board the buses is expanding every season: the opportunity to pre-order meals, use online cinema services, and much more is added.
“Ukrainians have learned to coexist with the war as much as possible. Parents work, children study, and rest in the summer. In addition, for many people summer is the sea, and since such a vacation is almost impossible in Ukraine, we are seeing a positive trend in the demand for foreign travel,” comments Kateryna Artyukh, Head of Product Marketing at Join UP! tm. – Of course, we are still far from the indicators of 2021, but compared to the previous year, we expect an increase in bookings by 30%. Ukrainians need a reboot to stay strong for the long term, and traveling is one of the best opportunities to stay safe and get new experiences.”
* – all prices are quoted at the exchange rate as of 19.04.2024 per person, based on double occupancy.
JOIN UP!, TOURISM, travel industry, UKRAINE, vacation with children
The number of registered unemployed people increased by 7.9% to 118.5 thousand in March, mainly due to the increase in the number of unemployed women for the fourth month in a row, including last month – by 7.6 thousand to 91.9 thousand.
According to the data of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), released on Friday, the number of unemployed also increased among people under 35 years old – by 2.3 thousand, up to 27.1 thousand.
It is specified that such a trend has lasted since January 2024.
As in the previous month, the largest number of unemployed citizens was recorded in the following regions: Zaporizhzhya (8.9 thousand), Kharkiv (8.6 thousand), Dnipropetrovsk (8.4 thousand), Sumy (7.3 thousand) and Poltava (6.4 thousand).
According to the central bank, the number of unemployed receiving benefits increased from 46.6 thousand to 51.2 thousand, while the number of vacancies also increased to 44.5 thousand from 41 thousand in February.
More details on macroeconomic indicators of Ukraine and the world, GDP of major countries and other economic topics were discussed in one of the video analysis of Experts club analytical center – https://youtu.be/w5fF_GYyrIc?si=Ymo-FlMFNGfLLdK-.
Subscribe to Experts club channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@ExpertsClub
Significant rains are expected on Sunday, April 21, in Kyiv, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, at night and Odessa, Mykolayiv, Kirovograd and Sumy regions, reports Ukrhydrometcenter.
In the afternoon in the eastern, Cherkasy, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhya regions thunderstorms, in the south-eastern and central regions wind gusts of 15-20 m/s. In this regard, in these areas declared I level of danger, yellow.
At night on April 21-22, April 21-22 in the western regions on the surface of the soil frost 0-3 ° (I level of danger, yellow).
The Steering Board of the Ukraine Investment Framework, set up by the EU on April 17 under the Ukraine Facility instrument, has allocated more than EUR1bn of funding to de-risk investments, mainly of small and medium-sized enterprises in Ukraine, through International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and banks, Ukraine’s Deputy Economy Minister Oleksiy Sobolev said.
“That is, this year, financing for SME development will be enough,” he said at Ukraine’s Future Summit in Brussels on April 18.
Sobolev called for more active trade and joint ventures with Ukrainian companies, because the above mechanism will provide leverage and additional guarantees.
“Thanks to the Ukraine Plan and Ukraine Facility, you will have available financing for business expansion in Ukraine, and what we need right now will be available. This year it will be available through Ukrainian banks and through MFIs: EBRD, EIB, IFC, KfW”, – said the Deputy Minister of Economy.
He specified that about 20 Ukrainian banks participate in these programs.
“So, in fact, you can apply to your Ukrainian bank, and he will provide additional financing to your companies,” – explained Sobolev.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has clarified the forecast of Ukraine’s GDP growth in 2024 under the World Economic Outlook (WEO): it expects it at the level of 3.2%, then during the third revision of the EFF Extended Fund Facility program in March estimated it in the range of 3-4%.
According to a publication on the Fund’s website on Tuesday, the economic growth forecast for 2025 was kept at 6.5%, up from 5.3% in 2023, according to the State Statistics Service.
The IMF also expects average annual inflation to slow to 6.4% this year from 12.9% last year and accelerate slightly to 7.6% in 2025.
Ukraine’s current account deficit forecast for this year and next year has been kept at the same level as in the third revision of the EFF program – 5.7% of GDP and 8.2% of GDP after 5.5% of GDP last year.
The Fund also reiterated expectations for unemployment to fall from 19.1% last year to 14.5% this year and 13.8% next year/
The IMF indicated that it forecast growth in the euro zone to accelerate to 0.8% this year and 1.5% next year after 0.4% last year, driven by the strong impact of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
“Stronger household consumption as the impact of the energy price shock fades and lower inflation supports real income growth is expected to support the recovery,” the Fund said, clarifying that the updated estimate is 0.1-0.2 percentage points (p.p.) worse than the previous estimate made in January.
Overall, the WEO said global economic growth, estimated at 3.2% in 2023, will continue at the same pace in 2024 and 2025. The forecast for 2024 is revised upward by 0.1pc from the January estimate.
“These growth rates are low by historical standards, driven by both short-term factors, such as continued high borrowing costs and the withdrawal of fiscal support, and the longer-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, weak productivity growth, and increased geoeconomic fragmentation,” the IMF said.
Overall global inflation is expected to decline from an annual average of 6.8% in 2023 to 5.9% in 2024 and 4.5% in 2025, with advanced economies returning to their inflation targets sooner than emerging market and developing countries.
The report also notes that the forecast for global economic growth in five years’ time (at 3.1%) is the lowest in decades. ” An alarming change is the widening gap between many low-income countries and the rest of the world. The growth forecast for these economies has been revised downward and the inflation forecast has been raised,” the Fund states.
Worse still, the report notes that compared to most other regions, estimates of long-term damage for low-income developing countries, including some large countries, are revised upward, indicating that the poorest countries are still unable to recover from the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis.
Its experts attribute the relatively weak medium-term outlook to lower GDP per capita growth, due in part to persistent structural frictions preventing the movement of capital and labor to productive firms. And worsening growth prospects in China and other large emerging market economies, given their growing share in the global economy, will have a negative impact on the development prospects of their trading partners.
According to the IMF, the risks to the global economic outlook are currently balanced. “On the downside, new price spikes triggered by geopolitical tensions, including from the war in Ukraine and the conflict in Gaza and Israel, could, along with the resilience of core inflation while labor markets remain tight, lead to higher interest rate expectations and lower asset prices,” the WEO pointed out.
The fund added that geo-economic fragmentation could intensify, with higher barriers to the flow of goods, capital and people implying slower economic growth due to lower supply.
At the same time, it noted that artificial intelligence and stronger structural reforms than expected could boost productivity growth.
As the global economy approaches a soft landing, the priority for central banks in the short term is to ensure that inflation falls smoothly, avoiding both premature policy easing and excessive delay leading to lagging behind targets, the IMF also said.
“Multilateral cooperation is needed to limit the costs and risks associated with geoeconomic fragmentation and climate change, accelerate the transition to green energy, and facilitate debt restructuring,” the Fund concluded.
More details on macroeconomic indicators of Ukraine and the world, GDP of major countries and other economic topics were discussed in one of the video analysis of Experts club analytical center – https://youtu.be/w5fF_GYyrIc?si=Ymo-FlMFNGfLLdK-.
Subscribe to Experts club channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@ExpertsClub
EXPERTS CLUB, GDP GROWTH, IMF, MACROECONOMICS, UKRAINE, URAKIN
Ukraine and Slovakia intend to hold a joint Ukrainian-Slovak business forum in the fall of 2024, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.
“We have invited representatives of Slovak business and government to the Recovery Conference to be held in Berlin in June this year. Based on its results, we plan to organize a joint Ukrainian-Slovak business forum in the fall,” Shmyhal said at a joint briefing with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on Thursday.
According to him, the forum will clearly discuss the prospects for investing in the economies of the countries.
