One of the most anticipated events of the Ukrainian tourism industry in 2024, the II National Tourism Summit, took place in the city of Lviv on 17-18 May. This is a platform for discussing the current issues and challenges facing the country's hospitality industry, which annually brings together leading international experts and tourism leaders from all over Ukraine for a productive discussion.
The main goal of this year's summit is to support small and medium-sized businesses in the tourism industry through an open dialogue with government agencies, local authorities, NGOs and European tourism clusters. This year's meeting is one of the ways to contribute to the restoration of resilience and development of tourism in the wake of war, economic growth and competitiveness of each region of Ukraine.
The event was attended by Marianna Gotra, Head of the Tourism and Resorts Department of the Transcarpathian Regional State Administration. This year, 30 speakers from Ukraine and Europe took part in five panel discussions at the summit. Among the top speakers were Julia Simpson, President and CEO of the World Travel and Tourism Council (an international organisation that brings together more than 200 global travel companies), Istvan Uygeli, Member of the European Parliament, and Marcus Lute, President of Hotel Stars Union (one of the most widely used hotel classification systems).
Together with representatives of ministries, MPs, heads of specialised departments of city councils and regional state administrations, and leading experts in the Ukrainian tourism industry, the foreign guests discussed Ukraine's integration into the European space. They also discussed tourism for economic development through the path to sustainable and prosperous communities, the role of analytics in the development of tourist destinations, inclusiveness, accessibility, and gastronomic and cultural diversity as the basis of Ukrainian hospitality.
"Thanks to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, we have the opportunity to meet and share our vision for the development of Ukrainian tourism, as well as look for ways to recover from the crisis caused by the war. During the workshop, together with representatives of the OBA and ATCs, we discussed the issues of community capacity through cultural diplomacy, inclusiveness in tourism and spatial accessibility. I am convinced that in the future, joint developments will become a catalyst for community development and each region of Ukraine will be able to offer tourists its improved socio-economic potential," said Marianna Gotra.
The Second National Tourism Summit was organised by the State Agency for Tourism Development within the framework of the EU4Business: SME Recovery, Competitiveness and Internationalisation Programme, co-funded by the European Union and the German Government and implemented by the German Federal Agency for International Development GIZ DART and the Ukrainian Hotel Association.
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