Tourism revenues may increase ten-fold if a new law on tourism is adopted and market transparency is ensured, said Maryana Oleskiv, head of the State Agency for Tourism Development, at a press conference.

"Over the five years of the agency's existence, we have been able to achieve significant efficiency in the systemic development and tidying up of the rules of the Ukrainian tourism industry, together with MPs, we have developed the law on tourism, the concept of the first stage of the Unified Tourism Register and harmonized interaction between participants. Despite the war, tourism today brings about UAH 3 billion to the country's budget and creates new niches. These revenues may increase ten-fold after the adoption of the new law on tourism and ensuring the transparency of this market, in particular the submission of statistics on the accommodation of tourists," she said.

Oleskiv explained this indicator with calculations based on the example of the Slavske community, based on the break-even level of establishments (30% occupancy).

"The better the data the community receives, the better it can manage this area. For example, a certain season is less active, so the community can reduce the tourist tax and make more promotions in order to attract more visitors with promotions," she explained.

Over the five years that Oleskiv headed the tourism agency, revenues to the state budget from the tourism industry increased from UAH 1.852 billion in 2020 to UAH 2.938 billion in 2024. According to the forecast of Oxford Economics, made at the request of the agency, in 2034 the country's tourism industry can bring up to UAH 598 billion to the state budget.

"We managed to get Russia excluded from the UN World Tourism Organization, we created a whole new niche - memory routes. We reoriented tourism from international to domestic and were able to interest people in new destinations to visit. At present, there is a very real and fully prepared strategy for the development of the industry for the coming years, as well as a professional environment that demonstrates unity and high activity of interaction," she says.

Among the systemic steps to create modern rules for managing the industry - a new law on tourism, bills to stimulate investment and develop the industry, a new system of categorization of hotels, the first joint municipal enterprise in the tourism sector has been created.

"To date, the first stage of the Unified Tourism Register has been created, an important element of which is the new categorization system developed by the agency specialists, after the adoption of which it makes sense to finalize the second stage of the register in accordance with the new criteria that correspond to European ones," Oleskiv said.