The article was published in Ekonomichna Pravda here.
Most Ukrainians are planning to spend the summer of 2024 within their country. The popularity of domestic tourism is growing even under martial law, and safety is becoming a key factor when choosing a vacation destination.
Over the past three years, the Ukrainian tourism sector has undergone significant changes. War and economic challenges have forced many citizens to rethink their travel preferences, but Ukraine remains the top vacation destination for the citizens of this country. A survey*, conducted by Ribas Hotels Group jointly with Gradus Research reveals interesting trends regarding the choice of vacation destinations and preferences of Ukrainians.
Vacations in the time of martial law
57% of the surveyed say that they have started to take vacation less often than before the full-scale invasion. At the same time, 12% of the respondents mention that the frequency of their vacation has increased during this period. 42% of the surveyed note that they have started to choose other regions of Ukraine for vacation more often than before 2022.
The vast majority of people surveyed (85%) have a positive attitude toward vacationing within Ukraine in the time of martial law. On the other hand, somewhat fewer respondents (66%) take a positive view of vacationing abroad during the war.
However, vacationing in Ukraine, with the country under martial law, requires compliance with safety measures taken by hotels. We found out that the most important safety measures taken in hotels for Ukrainians include shelters and bunkers near hotels/ tourist spots (75%), emergency stocks (64%), emergency communication and warning systems (62%).
Where and with whom do Ukrainians vacation?
According to the survey, the most popular place for vacation is a family hotel. The most important criteria for choosing a vacation destination include the natural environment, favorable price and safety.
As for information about vacation destinations, those surveyed are most often informed by relatives, friends, acquaintances, websites with reviews and ratings of places, official pages/ sites of a particular place, and social media.
The respondents mostly chose mountains as their intended vacation destination. Second place is shared between going on vacation by the sea and a river, and third place is taken by a lake.
The most demanded regions of Ukraine where people surveyed vacationed last time are Transcarpathia (12%) and Lviv region (11%). People are planning to vacation in the summer of 2024 mostly in Lviv (12%), Transcarpathia (12%), Odesa (11%), and the Carpathians (10%).
It is worth noting that 29% of the respondents consider going on vacation to Odesa to be likely (43% from the Southern region and 38% from Kyiv). As for the Carpathians, this figure reaches 57%.
Most often, the respondents spent their last vacation with their partner (49%) and/ or children (40%). The next vacation is mostly planned with the same company, with a partner (52%) and/ or children (48%).
Among the leisure activities planned for the summer of 2024, people mainly prefer strolling, dining out at restaurants and cafes, going on excursions/ visiting historic sites, picnicing/camping and meeting with relatives.
Read the rest of the article here.
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