Spotlight: Ukrainian tourism sector seizes opportunities to win Chinese market

Special tours for Chinese travelers

Some Ukrainian travel agencies have introduced special tours for Chinese tourists, considering their interests and preferences.

One of the agencies, the Kolos, is offering themed trips across Ukraine inspired by "How the Steel Was Tempered," a socialist realist novel which was very famous in China and adapted into a television series of the same title in 2000 by Chinese director Han Gang.

Victoria Zarutskaya, head of the Kolos agency, said she conducted in-depth research to create customized trips for Chinese visitors.

"Chinese tourists are interested in Soviet objects. In this regard, Ukraine can offer a lot. In addition, we know that the Chinese love amber and we can offer them individual tours to Rivne region, which is the birthplace of the sun stone," Zarutskaya told Xinhua.

Another attraction, which could be interesting for Chinese visitors, is the site of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

Since 2010, Chernobyl has been officially open for tourists as the environmental situation in the area has improved. The place now is completely safe if tourists strictly follow the instructions of tour guides.

"We are offering bus tours to Chernobyl and tours in a light aircraft and a helicopter. Besides, this spring we will launch tours in a hydrofoil boat around the Chernobyl area," said Sergii Mirnyi, head of Chernobyl tour agency.
He said that prices of Chernobyl tours range from 29 US dollars for a regular one-day bus tour to 500 dollars per person for an individual helicopter voyage.

Besides, targeting Chinese couples, local agencies are offering romantic tours to the Tunnel of Love in western Ukraine -- a botanical phenomenon, where trees and bushes are creating a 4-km-long tunnel in a dense forest.