According to Percentage Statistics, Most of Foreign Tourists Come to Chornobyl

According to percentage statistics, most of foreign tourists come to Ukraine to visit Chornobyl zone that was closed after the Chornobyl accident.

Anna Romanova, People’s Deputy of Ukraine, Head of the Subcommittee on Tourism, Resorts and Recreational Activity of the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Family, Youth Policy, Sports and Tourism, member of the Board of the Association of the Hospitality Industry of Ukraine, stated this during the conversation with Ukrinform correspondent.

“It is paradoxically, but tourism can develop in an unexpected area. If we take into account current flow of foreign tourists, most of them in a relative proportion come to the Chernobyl zone. 20-25 thousand tourists come every year to Chornobyl, 80% of them are foreigners. No destination has such a ratio (tourist area – Ed.)”, Romanova said.

“Moreover, this is despite the fact that the Chornobyl zone is closed, and special official permits are required in order to get an access to it”, she noted. “In addition, the price for tourists is quite considerable. One-day tour of the Chornobyl zone costs EUR 300. One would think who would go to the closed zone that scares away!? This is a vivid example of the local tourism initiative”, the Head of the Subcommittee for Tourism, Resorts and Recreational Activity underlined.

Photo by Oleksandr Syrota

Ukrinform