Today, April 3, a delegation including representatives of various communities of Lviv, Ternopil, Rivne, Zakarpattia, and Volhynia regions, as well as the head of the Department of Coordination of Tourism Infrastructure Development in the Regions of the State Agency for Tourism Development in Ukraine, Drohobych resident Ihor Chava, visited Drohobych.
It was Ihor Chava who started the tourism revolution in Drohobych, organizing an initiative group and creating a Tourist Information Center in 2016 with the support of local authorities.
At that time, the city had “one and a half guides, 1 institution open for tourism and 2 top objects – the Yura Church and … a cheap market.” – people from Drohobych remember with a smile.
And in just a few years of operation, the Drohobytskyi TIC has grown to 18.5 thousand visitors per year, developed new tourist routes, set up many street museum exhibits, surprised with theatrical tours and entered the top ten tourist and information centers of Ukraine. Joint efforts helped to open Drohobych to the world in a new way – to show all the uniqueness of its architectural monuments and “all the salt” of the city.
Ihor Chava’s initiative was successfully continued by the head of the TIC, Iryna Markiv, who today received guests from various regions of Ukraine, shared the experience of the work done and demonstrated how tourism initiatives have changed the community as a whole.
City Mayor Taras Kuchma welcomed the guests together with the deputy for humanitarian and social relations Yury Kushlyk and the head of the Department of Culture and Tourism Development Volodymyr Khanas.
When we started the first tourism initiatives, there was nothing in the city – production stopped, there were practically no revenues for the budget. We understood that there are things that do not depend on us, so when developing a strategy, we bet on medicine, education and tourism. Together with the community, they chose the slogan for the city “It has all the salt”, because our salt is unique. Subsequently, a logo was developed. Over the years, many ideas have been implemented – entire legends have been created, author tours and parties have been held, and a street museum has been set up. Sometimes I hear tourists admiring our city, comparing it with European cities. But in reality, we dream of people saying that this is Ukraine. That’s how beautiful she is,” said the mayor Taras Kuchma.
After the welcome speech, the head of the TIC, Iryna Markiv, presented the work of the Drohobych Tourist Information Center and the progress of the city’s tourism sector.
She told the audience how Drogobych created a revolution in the field of tourism, how it attracted new visitors and how it involved business.
If in 2016 the city was visited by 6,800 tourists per year, the number of visitors has tripled in three years. Then there was a quarantine, then a full-scale war. Despite everything, the tourist sphere of the community did not stop its development.
Last year, the TIC regained its pre-war attendance figures. Many events and excursions now have a charitable purpose, but this does not prevent the city from opening up to tourists in a new way and finding new tourist magnets for guests.
At the beginning of our work, we wanted to detain a tourist in the city for at least a few hours. Eventually we realized that we had something to fill the whole day. And now we are developing new routes and thematic maps to give something new to people who come to us not for the first time. Businesses that have joined tourism initiatives have only benefited. Our joint work has shown that we are stronger together, because only by uniting, we strengthen each other,” noted Iryna Markiv.
Theatrical excursion “Secrets of the Drogobytsk Town Hall” was included in the 12 best tours of Ukraine, and the Drogobytskyi Shopping Center itself is included in the top ten Tourist Information Centers of Ukraine.
In addition to socializing in the skylight of the Drohobych City Council, the guests climbed the Town Hall tower, had a sightseeing tour of the city, visited the Church of St. George, the saltworks, viewed the exhibits of the street museum, received souvenirs and tasted Drohobych gastrofiches.