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
Tourism enterprises paid UAH 2 billion 49.462 million in taxes in 2023, which is 32% more than in the previous year, but 8% less than in 2021, said Mariana Oleskiv, head of the State Agency for Tourism Development of Ukraine, during a final press conference on Wednesday.
“After a very stressful year of 2022, people just needed time to recover, to reboot psychologically, and it was by traveling, visiting tourist destinations, that they achieved their goals. Interest in their culture is realized through travel,” Oleskiv said.
Hotels accounted for 63.6% of tax revenues, tour operators for 10.1%, other accommodation facilities for 9.7%, and travel agencies for 9.4%. At the same time, the total number of taxpayers in 2023 amounted to 16645, which is 9% less than in 2022 and 25% less than in 2021.
In January-July 2023, international tourism recovered by 84% from the pre-pandemic level of 2019, and an almost complete recovery of the industry is possible by the end of the year, according to the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
From January to July, 700 million tourist trips were made worldwide, 43% more than in the same period last year. July was the busiest month: 145 million tourist trips were made during this time, which is about 20% of the total for seven months.
“But as the tourism sector recovers, it also needs to adapt. Extreme weather events and overtourism emphasize the need to create a more inclusive, resilient sector to not only ensure the recovery of tourism, but also to redefine it,” said UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili.
Among the regions of the world, the Middle East, Europe and Africa showed the best results of recovery over the past seven months. According to UNWTO, the Middle East received 20% more tourists than in 2019. European countries have recovered by 91%, driven by strong demand for travel among residents of the region and US citizens. In Africa, the number of tourists reached 92%, in America – 87% of the level of 2019.
In the Asia-Pacific region, the recovery accelerated and reached 61% of pre-pandemic levels after many destinations reopened in late 2022 and early 2023.
“The results show that international tourism is still on the right track and will reach 80-95% of pre-pandemic levels by 2023. The recovery will continue in September-December, albeit at a more moderate pace due to weak demand and a lack of air routes, especially in the Asia-Pacific region, where recovery is still at a moderate level,” the organization explained.
The UNWTO expects that the opening of China and other Asian destinations will continue to stimulate travel both within the region and to other parts of the world.
At the same time, the difficult economic situation continues to hamper the recovery of international tourism in 2023. Persistent inflation and rising oil prices have led to higher transportation and accommodation costs. This may affect tourist spending in the remainder of the year as they increasingly seek value for money, travel closer to home, and take shorter trips.
The recovery of international tourism after the coronavirus pandemic may slow down due to the conflict in Ukraine, experts from the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) say.
“The main tourist supplying countries, the US and Asian countries, which have now begun to open for departure, are sensitive to possible risks. In addition, the closure of Ukrainian and Russian airspace, as well as the ban on flights for Russian carriers, affects travel within Europe. The need to overfly closed areas for long-haul flights leads to an increase in flight time and an increase in flight costs.
According to the UNWTO, Russia and Ukraine accounted for 3% of global travel spending in 2020.
If the conflict drags on, global tourism could lose at least $14 billion in revenue.
“Both markets are significant suppliers of tourists for neighboring countries, European beach destinations. The Russian market has also become very important during the pandemic for tourist destinations such as the Maldives, Seychelles or Sri Lanka,” the organization emphasizes.
At the same time, UNWTO experts note that it is too early to assess all the consequences of the war. Searches and bookings for flights through various channels fell just after February 24, but in early March, the figures began to recover.
“The situation of uncertainty worsens economic conditions, undermines consumer confidence, increases investment uncertainty. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), global economic growth this year could be 1% lower than forecast, and inflation could jump by 2 .5%. The rising price of oil also increases the cost of transportation services and hotel accommodation, which reduces the purchasing power of potential tourists,” the UNWTO emphasizes.
Travel companies saw sales of vacation packages to destinations in Russia and abroad tumble 20-40% on the first day of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, Russian tour operators association ATOR reported on Friday.
Tourists are also asking about the conditions for cancelling trips, but so far few have actually done so, ATOR said.
“Sales of tour packages are lagging behind the average figures last week by 20-40%. The figures vary depending on the company. A large portion of the drop in sales was for tours in Russia – at some companies in this segment it is as much as 40%. Tour operators believe that this is probably a short-term phenomenon that has more to do with the confusion with tourists’ departures from regions in southern Russia,” ATOR said.
The steepest drop has been in sales of trips in the next few weeks in March. Early bookings for summer holidays at resorts in Krasnodar Territory and Crimea declined far less, by only 10-20%, ATOR said.
“Tourists, as we see, believe that the crisis will be resolved by the end of spring. The drop in this segment is smaller than for earlier dates,” the association said.
Sales of vacations abroad also saw a smaller decline, of 15-20%, and also primarily for the coming weeks.
“Some tourists who planned to buy tours for upcoming dates prefer to hold off on booking. But requests continue to come in for the summer, including quite expensive ones. The decline here is not very noticeable. As always, it is the luxury segment that is the most stable,” ATOR said.
Travel agencies and tour operators said they are getting many questions from tourists about the possible size of penalties for trip cancellations, but there are few actual cancellations so far, partly because cancellation terms for upcoming dates usually stipulate penalties. There are also tourists asking about possible travel discounts being offered in connection with the crisis.
From April 2022, Poland will change its visa operator in Ukraine – it will be the TLS consortium, consisting of five companies – TLS Group S.A., TLSContact Maroc Immeuble Walili, TLScontact Ukraine LLC, Personnel Service, Viza Staff.
Such data is contained in the materials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, provided in response to a deputy request from Olena Moshenets (Servant of the People), which is available to the Interfax-Ukraine agency.
“According to the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Ukraine, on February 7, 2022, an agreement was concluded on the provision of visa services with a company determined as the winner based on the results of a tender for the selection of a visa operator. The start of work of a new visa operator is scheduled for April 2022,” the Foreign Ministry said in response at the request of an MP.
Prior to the start of the work of the new operator, the acceptance of documents will be carried out by VFS Global.
“The announcement of the launch of the new operator will be made public on the official web portal of the Polish diplomatic/consular institutions,” the ministry said.
