Current challenges and prospects for the development of urban tourism in Ukraine in the post-war period

Abstract

The article is aimed at identifying the peculiarities of urban tourism functioning and the main challenges caused by the full-scale war in Ukraine. The relevance of the study is stipulated by the need to understand the main transformational changes in tourism in Ukraine during the war and in the post-war period. The purpose of the study is to analyse the prospects for the development of urban tourism and the main challenges caused by military operations in Ukraine. In order to achieve this goal, we will focus on two key tasks: analyzing the problems caused by Russia's military aggression against Ukraine and identifying the main challenges faced by urban tourism in Ukraine, both during the war and in the post-war period. Despite the difficult situation in the country, it has been established that urban tourism continues to function in relatively safe cities. In addition to rather small domestic tourism, "non-traditional" inbound tourism has begun to develop in the form of visits by delegations of representatives of governments, international organisations, NGOs, volunteers, and military journalists. The study found that the main challenges of today are due to the need to strengthen security measures, take into account the availability of bomb shelters and shelters when visiting cities, and organize excursions. In this regard, there is a growing need to find ways to transform the tourist offer, increase the use of Internet technologies in the tourism sector and develop new approaches to promoting the tourist offer of urban tourism. One of the key tasks today and in the future is to develop adaptive and inclusive tourism in Ukrainian cities.