It is not widely known, but Kyiv Oblast has just as many green tourism opportunities to offer during the summer season as Ukraine’s picturesque Carpathians, only cheaper and closer to the city.
The average price for accommodation in Kyiv Oblast eco-houses and village hotels varies between Hr 50-200 ($5-$20) per person per day. Besides that, many eco-places offer a wide range of traditional entertainment, such as horseback riding, fishing and hunting.
Tourists interested in Ukrainian history and traditions can go on ethnographic tours or take part in master classes of Ukrainian traditional craft. Many houses are located on the banks of Dnipro, Desna or Ros Rivers, near the woods or lakes. Others even offer a tourist to dive into the romantic past of Ukrainian villagers and spend a couple of days in an old earthen house.
European diplomat David Stulik says vacationing in such envoirons near Kyiv is just the perfect time off for families with kids. “I love nature and spending nights in these ethnic houses. Kids spend the whole days in the fresh air, but especially I love the fact that it is not far from Kyiv,” he says
Lesya Zaburanna, a board member of the Union for Promotion of Rural Green Tourism Development in Ukraine, agrees the majority of visitors are rural inhabitants aged 30 to 45 with children interested in Ukrainian history and traditions.
However, scarce information online as well as the recent turbulence in the country tend to keep potential customers away from the oblast’s green tourism attractions.
Stulik says that even his knowledge of Ukrainian does not help him much in finding new tourist gems. “In most cases eco-hotels do not have English language websites. All the tele phones and addressees I managed to find were found through my friends and acquaintances,” he said.
Zaburanna of the Green Tourism Union says bad marketing is another reason why few tourists trek it to Kyiv Oblast. “Many houses are located in beautiful places and offer various services and accommodation for acceptable prices, but remain mostly unknown to the larger public because their owners do not have websites and do not know how to market themselves,” she says.
Eco-hotel Villa Gogol, located in Kodaky village just 35 km south of Kyiv, is one of many eco-tourism places in the region. Unlike most others, this one has a website in Ukrainian, Russian and English and a facebook page, which has really helped to draw clients in previous years.
But its owner, Mykola Revuk, says that the situation has changed after EuroMaidan revolution. Now his hotel stays almost empty. To make at least some kind money Revuk had to sublet the place for the whole summer.
“Before the EuroMaidan Revolution, foreigners were coming here to see the uncivilized world, check how we live here in the post-Soviet space,” Revuk says, adding that now because of the war in the east of the country foreigners do not come to his hotel at all.
Zaburanna says that foreigners now are more interested in Carpathian and Lviv Oblast resorts. “Lack of proper infrastructure and low quality of services discourage them from coming deeper into the country,” she said.
Stulik says he has travelled a lot around Ukraine and assures the quality of tourist services has significantly improved recently and have become “more professional” in western as well as in central Ukraine.
Zaburanna also believes that Kyiv Oblast green tourism has big potential taking into account the fairly low prices for good service.
More information on green tourism options in Ukraine is available at:
Kyiv Post staff writer Nataliya Trach can be reached at [email protected]
