There are an insufficient number of low-cost hotels in Kyiv, representative of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine Oleksiy Yevchenko has said.
“Despite the fact that in 2010-2011 the total number of hotels in Kyiv increased, the chain of low-cost hotels, to which most tourists go, is not developing,” he said at a panel discussion on Wednesday.
“Most low-cost hotels, unfortunately, are old buildings of the Soviet-era period and do not correspond to western standards, and do not meet the expectations of foreign tourists,” he explained.
The expert believes that the reason for this situation is the discrepancy between the declarations of intent to attract mass tourists and the absence of appropriate legislation.
Ukraine has granted tax breaks for the opening of three-, four- and five-star hotels. Several such hotels of international brands have opened in Kyiv. At the same time, only one low-cost international brand hotel, namely the Ibis, has opened.
Yevchenko also noted that eco-tourism is becoming more and more popular in Europe, therefore Ukraine should encourage the development of this direction.
First Deputy Head of Kyiv City State Administration Oleksandr Mazurchak reported on the analysis of the use hotels for the past two years, which “surprised us.” It turns out that the city has more than enough hotels.
According to him, the average occupancy of hotels in Kyiv is at about 40% – that of 4-5 star hotels exceeds 70%, and that of low-cost hotels 37%, and in particular, during working days, it is 26%.
“This shows the isolation of prices from the quality of services offered by these hotels,” said Mazurchak.
At the same time, the situation is complicated by competition from the side of apartment owners who lease their property. According to him, a large number of apartments are empty because the owners bought them just as investments.
According to Mazurchak, methods need to be found to encourage low-cost hotels to improve the quality of their services.
