Ambassador of the European Commission to Ukraine Jose Manuel Pinto Teixeira has said he hopes the EU can share its experience with Crimea in the sphere of developing tourism during the implementation of the first stage of the Joint Cooperation Initiative in Crimea (JCIC).
He said this on Wednesday, after a meeting with First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Crimea Pavlo Burlakov, during which they discussed the situation with the implementation of the EU-funded joint cooperation initiative in Crimea.
"As everybody knows, the European Union is one of the key players on the world arena in the tourism sphere and has huge knowledge and experience in the issue. As part of this project for tourism development in Crimea, we are planning to use the EU’s experience and knowledge, sharing it with you. We hope due to this tourism standards in Crimea will increase, bringing tourism standards to the top level to meet the highest European and international requirements," the ambassador said.
He added, "We hope Crimea will become a tourism hotspot and an important destination on the tourist maps of Europe and the world after the implementation of the project."
The ambassador added that the successful realization of the project requires "assistance from the central Ukrainian authorities in Kyiv. They should transfer some powers to Crimea and approve a number of decisions connected with the legislation. Only if this is done will the project produce the desired results."
The EU ambassador to Ukraine also expressed hope that the project would be as successful as the EU’s other projects in Crimea. In particular, those projects include the creation of a regional development agency in Crimea, which is operating in Simferopol. He also noted that the autonomy’s regional development strategy was also developed with the help of the EU.
