Kuleba proposes World Tourism Organization hold international forum in Ukraine

Kuleba said this at a meeting with Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization Zurab Pololikashvili in Spain, according to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.

According to the report, Kuleba proposed holding an international forum of the World Tourism Organization in Ukraine dedicated, in particular, to the topic of domestic and green tourism in the world.

"I have no doubt that Ukraine will become a new territory on the map of world tourism, which foreigners will be happy to discover as something new. The development of domestic tourism is a priority for President Volodymyr Zelensky and the Government of Ukraine. I want us to unite efforts with the WTO to achieve this goal," he said.

According to Kuleba, it is worth actively looking for new forms and methods of tourism development without waiting for the end of the coronavirus pandemic, given the importance of the tourism industry for the world economy.

During the meeting, both parties discussed prospects for Ukraine's cooperation with the UNWTO and the involvement of the organization's mechanisms in the development of Ukraine's tourism industry.

"The interlocutors focused on the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for the tourism industry, its adaptation to new realities. Dmytro Kuleba noted that the pandemic has not only obvious negative consequences for tourism, but also unexpected new opportunities. In particular, such circumstances in Ukraine gave impetus to domestic tourism and aroused people's interest in traveling in their own country," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.

Pololikashvili noted that today this trend is observed everywhere, and the organization sees in it new opportunities for the global development of domestic and rural tourism.

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