During the years of its independence Ukraine has reached significant success in the field of tourism. National tourism is gradually becoming the integral part of the world’s tourist market. At the XIIth General Meeting of the Worldwide Organisation of Tourism (WTO) held in 1997 in Istanbul Ukraine was affiliated a full member of the said authoritative international intergovernmental organization including 138 countries. Its election to the Executive Body of the WTO is another evidence of Ukraine’s high priority in the sphere of the worldwide tourism.
Avantageous geographical location accounts for the swift integration of Ukraine into the world’s tourist community. Ukraine is actually situated in the very centre of Europe, at the crossroads of transit traffic, and can be considered the terminal point for millions of people.
As a state, Ukraine had defined tourism one of its priorities both in economic and cultural spheres. This is guaranteed by the Law of Ukraine “On Tourism”, adopted in 1995.
Modern tourism and its problems is the priority field of research for such prominent scientists as A.Vynograds’ka, V.Fedorchenko and T.Dvorova.
The intense development of Ukrainian tourism as one of the most promising and dynamic spheres of world economy became possible with the formation of market relations in the country. All this became possible due to several objective factors, such as the state borders having been opened after a long period of isolation on the one hand, and the existence of the huge potential for tourism based on the unique complex of historical, cultural and architectural memorials alongside with the facilities for recreation, natural and climatic resources, on the other hand. Besides, the area of 9.4 million hectares, which makes 15.5% of the territory of Ukraine, is occupied by landscapes most suitable for tourism and recreation. These territories, environmental protection and permissible load having been taken into consideration, have the capacity exceeding 48 million people at a time. [3,p.10]
Until recently, Ukraine has been visited by over 12 million foreigners 5 million of which are tourists. According to the scheme of calculations offered by WTO, foreign visitors left over 2 billion USD in Ukraine in 2004.
Citizens of Ukraine, in their turn, go on more than 14 million journeys abroad every year, 9 million of them being tourist ones.
Over 7 million of Ukrainian citizens travel around Ukraine annually. Ukrainian museums have registered 16 million visitors and tourist agencies – over 1.5 million tourists.
Unfortunately, only a few agencies operating at the national market of tourism act as real tourist operators, while the majority are nothing but mediators of the foreign tourist operators who add their small share of services to the main offering.
Some agencies are unable to accumulate necessary investments, so to solve this problem with the leading hand of the state is vital. [1, p.23]
It is obvious that the significance of tourist business tends to increase. This is due to its growing influence on international relations, economic recovery of the country as well as its separate regions and increase in currency inflow. Thanks to the consistent economic and cultural international policy, tourism became itself a stabilizer for building credibility between different countries and can act as a means for supporting the prestige of Ukraine in the world community and business circles.
Tourism itself has a positive impact on the process of diversification of economics as it provides the related sectors of management involved in the sphere of service of the tourists with total employment. The above said relates to the retails, catering, hotel business, domestic services, communications, souvenirs and other goods for tourists, agriculture, construction activity, advertising, excursions, culture and entertainment spheres.
Providing tourists with travel package is highly profitable for the state in terms of use of resources. Foreign tourists pay for the tourist product without taking it away. Historical, cultural and architectural memorials together with natural resources remain on the Ukrainian territory. [2,p.14]
Tourist services have their peculiarity, and that is the possibility for the tourists to make a good use of their free time, get positive impressions of their journey, improve their health, go shopping, extend their cultural horizons, combine studies with rest and to carry out their potential in the variety of activities offered by tourism.
So, it is evident that the social implication of tourism consists in providing facilities for proper recreation, making good use of free time and, certainly, for improving the educational level of children, teenagers, students as well as other groups of people.
Список використаної літератури
1. Виноградська А. Розвиток українського туристичного бізнесу // Економіка. Фінанси. Право. - 2002. - ВНП. 5. - С.13-18.
2. Куленко О. Туризм України // Вільне життя. - 2003. - 2 червня.
3. Олійник О. Туризм в Україні має перспективи // Урядовий кур’єр. - 2001. - 25 лютого.
4. Федорченко В.К., Дворова Т.А. Історія туризму в Україні. – К., 2002.