Ukrainian tourism sector seizes opportunities to win Chinese market

Although individual tourism is gaining momentum, traditional package tours remain the most popular among the majority of Chinese tourists as they want to see as many places as possible when traveling abroad.

Therefore, Ukraine is cooperating with neighboring countries to jointly receive travelers from China.

Maryna Ignatusha, head of the Brandberg agency, which specializes in business, cultural, gastronomic and shopping tourism, said her company is working with partners from Poland and Hungary to prepare combined tours for Chinese tourists.

The agency also plans to arrange trips across the countries of the former Soviet Union.

"Taking into consideration the preferences of the Chinese tourists and the geographical position of Ukraine, we plan to jointly organize tours with Belarus, Baltic countries and Moldova," Ignatusha told Xinhua.

In recent months, more and more international travel agencies are turning to Ukraine as the country's image has improved and many people get to understand that the concerns about Ukraine's security situation were exaggerated, she said.

"The opinion that Ukraine is unsafe is due to the lack of information. Of course, there is a troubled region where a conflict is underway. But tourists will never enter there," Ignatusha said.

She introduced that Ukraine is completely safe for travellers as all tourism destinations are far away from the conflict area in eastern Ukraine.

Kiev lies about 750 km away from the restive Donetsk and Lugansk regions, Odessa resort is about 800 km away, while the ancient Lviv city is located in another part of the country -- more than 1,200 km away from the conflict area.