A Ukrainian Summer: where to go, what to do...

Ukrainian Catholic University encourages tourism to Ukraine

by Petro Didula and Matthew Matuszak

LVIV - The Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) on March 2-3 hosted a seminar "The Development of Tourism in Ukraine: New Perspectives and Possibilities." Organized by UCU's Institute of Non-Profit Management and the travel firm Lviv-Inturtrans, the seminar was lead by Marijka Helbig, president of Scope Travel Inc., the biggest travel agency in North America now working with Ukraine, and Andrew Evans, a journalist who authored "Ukraine: The Bradt Travel Guide." Participating in the interactive gathering were government workers, travel professionals, and staff of hotels, restaurants and museums.

The participants of the seminar discussed the attraction of Ukraine's tourist market, the difficulties of organizing recreation for foreigners in the country, and strategies for presenting Ukraine as a unique Eastern European country for tourists from Europe and North America.

The participants had the opportunity to hear thoughts of experts on what the tourist expects from a trip to Ukraine, what can ruin impressions, how a tour guide should present the special color of a city or region and other practical advice.

They also shared their experience on how one can find one's niche in the market of tourist services, how to organize a cooperation network and effectively advertise it for foreign tourists, how to make improvements based on the results of opinion surveys given to clients to assess tourist services, and so on.

As part of the seminar, a presentation of Mr. Evans' English-language travel guide on Ukraine was held at the Lviv City Council. The book is published by Bradt Travel Guides, and more than 100,000 copies have been sold in the U.S., Canada and Europe.

"The goal of the seminar was to help Ukrainian travel firms listen to their clients and become aware that the clients' expectations should become the requirements for planning a tour," said Prof. Jeffrey Wills, himself a U.S. citizen and a former vice-rector of the UCU.

"The problem for Ukrainian travel firms is that they can't always meet the wishes of their clients. Foreign tourists are often not interested in a detailed history of the construction of all the ancient and new structures of Ukraine, which tour guides retell during excursions through the city," he continued. "Guests of Ukraine want to see its uniqueness, to feel its personal life, to touch its history, but not to listen to lectures about it."

"The ability to organize a tour on a high level, in which you can feel what Ukraine is, what it means 'to be Ukrainian,' - that's the craftsmanship of a tour guide. To help travel professionals to think about their approaches and to show them something new, that's the calling of our seminar on the development of tourism," Prof. Wills explained.

In addition to professionals with long experience, those who are only planning to enter this field also attended the seminar, including many students and graduates of the UCU. Solomiya Hnativ, a student of UCU's Humanities Faculty, said that she wants to help foreigners see the beauty of her country, and, she added, a humanities education, a well-grounded knowledge of foreign languages and history, will help her present Ukraine at a high, professional level.

"UCU students can successfully conduct individual excursions for foreign tourists," said Ms. Helbig. "They know foreign languages well and understand the history and culture of this country, and so they can easily organize something similar. Jeffrey Wills and I discussed the idea of organizing a center for students who would conduct such tours, so I hope this soon will be realized."

"Yes, students can be wonderful guides in Lviv and the surrounding areas," said Mr. Evans. "They can tell of its history and its interesting modern sites, about Lychakiv Cemetery (which, by the way, is my favorite place in Lviv), and about new cafes and the youth subculture. Students can do this in a personal way, not like a run-of-the-mill tour guide."

In addition to students, the Religious Information Service of Ukraine, which has a website at www.risu.org.ua, is another branch of the UCU which hopes to explore the world of tourism. RISU has plans to devote a page of its site to religious tourism, with contact information for travel firms specializing in this. That is why RISU's research director, Taras Hrynchyshyn, also took part in the seminar.

"The main thing I learned," said Mr. Hrynchyshyn, "was that you have to understand your potential market. People of Ukrainian descent from North America, with relatives in Ukraine, have already come to Ukraine and won't be looking for the services of tour guides. You need to learn how to interest general tourists."

In recent years, RISU has received numerous requests from site-visitors who are interested in Catholic and Orthodox pilgrimage locations. There have also been news stories about Jewish pilgrimages to Ukraine.

To help students who are interested in learning more about the subject, the UCU will again offer a Summer School on Tourism this year.

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Further information about the UCU in English and Ukrainian is available on the university's website at www.ucu.edu.ua. Readers may also contact the Ukrainian Catholic Education Foundation, 2247 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL 60622; phone, (773) 235-8462; e-mail, [email protected]; website, www.ucef.org. The phone number of the UCEF in Canada is (416) 239-2495.

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Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, May 7, 2006, No. 19, Vol. LXXIV

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