Ukraine Gets Ready for 2012 Soccer Tourism

Austria, Switzerland and Germany have all made use of the same strategy very successfully in the past. By developing special tourism programs, fans are coaxed into staying for longer in the same city. In this way they not only watch their favorite teams participating in as many matches as possible, but they spend some money and time seeing the sights and sounds of the host city. At least four Ukrainian cities will be hosting football matches in the UEFA EURO 2012, but as many as six cities have been prepared for the event. According to Anatoly Pakhlya, the head of the Ukrainian Tourism department, some sixty new tourist routes have been developed in these six cities. The routes have been specially planned so that they include sites of cultural, national and natural value. In this way the visitors are able to make the most of their stay in the cities in the shortest time possible. Work is still underway, and there are still plans to get a train system running between Lviv and Krakow before 2012. Current border control methods will also be revisited for the sake of the visiting football fans. It is hoped that all this development will encourage fans to stick around and spend nine or ten days in the same city, taking in the sights, instead of spending only one day in the city and leaving straight after the match. It has been estimated that fans spending one day spend only around €100. However if they could be persuaded to stay longer they are likely to spend between €500-600 a day! The resulting economic boost will no doubt prove invaluable to the country which is currently facing serious economic problems.

So if you’re planning a trip to Ukraine for this fantastic sporting event, be sure to check out what the host towns have to offer and find out more about the exciting new tourist routes.