Travel with ID Cards to Accelerate the Ukrainian Market...

Müberra Eresin, TÜROB Vice President and Chair of the Fairs, Promotion and Marketing Committee, stated that, thanks to the agreement enabling travel between Türkiye and Ukraine without passports, using the new identity cards, they anticipate that the growth in this market will continue.

The Association of Turkish Hoteliers (TÜROB) is continuing its international fair marathon. Following the ITB Berlin Fair held last week, TÜROB's senior management, which this week is attending the ongoing MITT Tourism Fair in Moscow, will also make contacts in Ukraine at the end of this month. TÜROB will participate in the UITT International Tourism Fair to be held in Kiev, Ukraine, on March 29-31, 2017, within the Türkiye stand organized by the Kiev Office of the Culture and Promotion Counselor.

Making an assessment of the Ukrainian tourism market, Müberra Eresin, TÜROB Vice President and Chair of the Fairs, Promotion and Marketing Committee, recalled that, with the agreement enabling travel between Türkiye and Ukraine without passports, using the new identity cards, Ukrainian citizens will be able to travel to Türkiye and Turkish citizens to Ukraine using an identity card. Eresin said: "This is a very important development for our sector. We thus anticipate that the growth will continue. Arrivals from Ukraine will continue as long as prices do not rise."

Double-Digit Growth Will Continue
Pointing out that Ukraine was one of the rare markets from which we obtained a positive result in 2016, Müberra Eresin said: "Last year, despite all the difficulties experienced in our country and especially in tourism, we surpassed the 1 million mark with an increase of nearly 50% in the number of tourists coming from Ukraine. However, one point that must not be forgotten is this: although they very much want to come to Türkiye, the economic difficulties experienced in Ukraine could put a brake on the rise. Even so, Ukraine is a market we must pay particular attention to and attach importance to among the current markets, and we expect Ukraine to record double-digit growth in 2017 as well."