Is Ukraine dangerous for tourists?
In 2012, Euro 2012 was held in Ukraine; that sharply and rapidly increased the influx of foreign tourists into our country. In this article, we will explain why after a few years the number of tourists decreased by 15 times, and Ukraine became dangerous for foreign tourists.
Reasons why it is dangerous in Ukraine
The fact that foreigners have become less likely to Travel to Kiev is also evidenced by the data of the State Statistics Committee, according to which 232 thousand tourists visited Ukraine in 2013, whereas in 2015 the number was strikingly smaller – only 15 thousand guests. This figure indicates that today there are 15 times less foreigners visiting Ukraine.
EURO 2012 – Tourism Peak
Many sources indicate that until 2012 foreigners did not know much about our capital, but it was after Euro 2012 that they began to Travel to Kiev and saw that it was green, flowering and welcoming. Even during the revolution, foreigners arrived in large groups and were not afraid. When did everything start to decline? Namely, it was after the cadres of the war; everything stopped, people felt fear and insecurity and chose safer countries as travel destinations.
Another example: despite low prices in Turkey after the attacks in 2015, the Europeans did not go there, because the security issue is very important for them. The same thing happened with Ukraine – no one really understands where Donetsk and Lugansk are and how far Kyiv is. For foreigners, all our cities are one country, which means that there is a war going on in any of its territories, and this war can reach them. This is scary and because of this attitude the flow of foreigners has decreased by as much as 15 times.
Revival after the 2014 Revolution
In 2017, when Ukraine hosted the Eurovision song contest, the number of foreign guests was 20 thousand, and internal tourists (Ukrainians) were about 40 thousand, which is not a bad number as well. In 2016-2017, number of foreign guests in the tourism sector rapidly began to grow up again.
In 2018, during three days of the Champions League final, which took place on 26th of May, more than 30 thousand foreign fans visited the capital of Ukraine, which is already good. Because of the Champions League Final in Kiev, 20 main streets of the capital were blocked for several days; there were so many people that sometimes one had to push people to be able to walk. In that particular situation, it was we, locals, who were getting kind of scared because football fans were in a cheerful state almost 24/7.
Safety is a major concern for travellers to Ukraine because of the war in Donbass and Crimea annexation. Guide me UA tour operator recommend