Vacations at home

People tend to have different definitions of a vacation. This may be the reason why a poll, held by the Kyiv International Institute in June 2010, asking Ukrainians what kind of vacations they were planning to take, yielded some strange results. For example, 66 percent Ukrainians were not planning to have any holiday whatsoever. They would either work or are already retired and have no money; others were planning to stay on their little plots of land out of town.

Five to six percent of Ukrainians probably believe that a vacation means a change in their activities, so they were going to stay at their country houses or visit their relatives in the country. There is quite a small proportion of Ukrainians who traditionally believe that the best holiday is a week or two in the Crimea or the Carpathians, or at private holiday homes in Ukraine. This is how 16 percent were planning to spend their vacation. As a rule, they are people aged 19 to 39 with university degrees (27 percent) or working towards their degrees (34 percent).

Thus, the Carpathians and the Crimea are popular destinations among students. By the way, students are the category that is least inclined to spend their vacations at home (only 13 percent). And only one percent of Ukrainians said that they were planning a trip abroad.

The regional variations are also quite curious. The largest part of those who cannot afford a vacation trip live in the western region (36 percent). That region also has the greatest number of people who planned trips to their relatives in the country (eight percent). Meanwhile, in the southern and eastern regions the largest proportion of people plan to stay at home (47 and 44 percent respectively). Moreover, the bulk of respondents planning a vacation in the Crimea, the Carpathians, or elsewhere in Ukraine, live in the east.

In the central region more Ukrainians than elsewhere plan a vacation to the countryside, nine percent. Overall, women are more prone to spend their holidays at home than men (45 percent vs. 38 percent).

There is a good tendency: each year the number of those willing to travel and discover Ukraine is growing. It is gratifying to know that these include young people, students in particular. By the way, among the young people from 18 to 29 the percentage of those who cannot afford a vacation is the lowest.

It appears that life itself emphasizes the importance of developing domestic tourism, green in particular. But how well are holiday homes prepared to meet the growing demand? It is not just a matter of accommodation, but also finding the best price/quality ratio, organizing interesting and wholesome pastimes, and preparing meals and clean water.

These and other problems of Country Green Tourism (CGT) were the key points of conversation between The Day, Volodymyr VASYLIEV, director, Union for Promotion of Country Green Tourism, and Oleksandr SHOKUR, owner of Edem holiday home (1st category, Bohuslav, Kyiv oblast).

Mr. Vasyliev, how would you describe the present state of Ukraine’s green tourism?

V.V.: “Potentially, owners of nearly five million homes could practice CGT in Ukraine. There are no current statistics for CGT at present. According to the data provided by the Union for Promotion of CGT, nearly 1,000 country homes in 20 regions are engaged in the sphere of tourism.

“Despite great natural, historical, ethnographic, and human potential, Ukraine lags behind its neighbors in developing agrotourism. Most owners of country homes are not even aware of the potential of this sphere.

“Until now, CGT was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Tourism. However, it failed to lobby the draft bill on CGT in the parliament, which made any progress in this sphere impossible. Last year, the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers charged the Ministry of Agrarian Policy with the development of the relevant draft bill. However, my opinion is that this step curbs the prospects for the development of CGT.”

Why do you think the bill on CGT development has been in suspense for more than 10 years?

V.V.: “The question of legislation on CGT has been pending for a long while already. We can only observe a ‘tug of war’ among various ministries. Last year, the Council of Entrepreneurs at the Cabinet of Ministers opposed granting preferences to farmers, which would have allowed them to skip registration as a private entrepreneur if he caters for less than nine guests on his property. Due to this stand of the Council, the draft was not submitted for the consideration by the parliament.

“This year, a new draft bill authored by the Ministry for Agricultural Policy will be placed on the ministry’s web site. However, a round table discussion held in May as part of the exhibit ‘Ukrainian village invites. Eco-vacation 2010’ shows that farmers will not accept this document. Moreover, it says nothing about NGOs who can act as subjects of CGT. Yet as we all know, civic society depends heavily on the activities of NGO. Therefore, their expulsion from the tourism sphere is absurd.

“At present, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism is working on their own version of the draft.”

There are different categories of holiday homes for green tourism...

V.V.: “The state still has not devised any standards by which to evaluate the level of service in country tourism. However, it might be good, as such a standard would obstruct the development of green tourism. Our Union has developed and passed a program of categorization for village households, ‘Hospitable Ukrainian Home.’ The program defines four categories of holiday homes: basic, first, second, and third. The category is shown through a mallow flower pictogram (one to four flowers). By the way, neighboring countries have a state standard to define the basic level, with higher categories to follow.

“Categorization organizes the tourist services market in the country. We are planning to accustom tourists to this practice, as it is going to facilitate the choice of the holiday destination. Meanwhile, for the farmer the category of his home serves as a marketing tool to attract guests. The prices for his services are formed in conforimty with the category his home was granted.”

What is the process of categorization like in Ukraine?

V.V.:“There are 15 well-trained categorization inspectors — mostly the directors of oblast offices of the Union. An inspector surveys the home on the owner’s request and sees if it meets certain criteria, such as a separate entrance for guests, hot running water, indoor plumbing, means of communication, overall appearance of the house, etc. Based on this, the home is given a certain category, and the owner receives a relevant certificate. The inspector charges 250 hryvnias for his services, plus travel expenses.

“We realize that for beginners such expenses are quite big, therefore we are planning to gather funds from various projects. Last year we inspected 73 homes in various regions. As a result, 43 homes got the basic category, eight got the first category, 12 got the second, and the highest, third was received by 10 homes.

“We use Polish know-how while categorizing homes. With the help from our Polish colleagues, the Union held a training for Ukrainian experts in categorization. We are also planning to hold a categorization workshop of several homes, with the participation of Polish inspectors. In conclusion, we plan a catalog of Ukrainian and Polish green homes which we plan to print before the Euro 2012 in Ukrainian, Polish, and English.”

Could you please describe a typical green home in a Ukrainian village?

V.V.: “In holiday destinations (first of all, the Carpathians) green homes are made of natural construction materials, and have been functioning for many years. They have traditional hand-made furniture, hot running water, indoor plumbing, bath houses or saunas, gazebos and playgrounds for children. The owners offer a number of fun activities, such as riding and biking tours, skiing, sledging, carriage rides, boating, etc.

“Nowadays, a lot of travel agencies are interested in CGT. However, an average Ukrainian travel agent wants to charge as much as possible, with a minimum of responsibility. That is why I would advise those who want to have a holiday in the country to contact the owners directly. The information on them is available at the Union and its oblast offices. Besides, a lot of owners have their websites. The current average cost is 70-100 hryvnias per person, meals excluded. Breakfast will cost around 20-25 hryvnias.”

Do you think CGT can be used as a resource for accommodating Euro 2012?

V.V.: “Right now, the Cabinet is working on the conception of accommodation for the guests. I think it would be a big mistake to leave out the resources of CGT.”

Mr. Shokur, how did you come to be engaged in CGT?

O.Sh.: “At first it was by accident, but later I became deeply involved... I started with advertising my home in the local press. Now I have a website of my own and I advertise tourist services at specialized exhibitions.”

How did you refurnish your house in order to accommodate guests? How much did it cost?

O.Sh.: “I could not take a loan for it as I am a town resident, and our legislation only provides such loans for villagers. My first investment was worth 800 hryvnias. First of all, I built two bathrooms in the house and added hot and cold running water in. Then I renovated two suites for guests. One of them — dubbed Hilton, for fun — has all conveniences and top level of comfort. The other (‘The Cabin’) used to be an old shed upon a steep bank of the River Ros. It is not as comfortable, but the river babbles over the rapids day and night, and the guests love it.”

How do you entertain your guests?

O.Sh.: “My home is really green, it’s right upon a watery meadow near the Ros. It is an isle of picturesque beauty, with rapids, woods, and meadows, lakes and straits. And our air — you could drink it!

“I take my guests on green excursions. They use my bikes and fishing tackle. I also take them out on excursions to Bohuslav (there are five museums there), to the local monastery and other monuments of culture and history. And all of this is free.

“There are other entertainments in and out of town: a paintball club, saunas, a stud farm, where one can go horse riding, and a mini zoo. These entertainments are provided by my friends. They profit from my guests (for example, one hour of horse riding costs 100 hryvnias), and so do I.

“There are guests all year round. Besides summer months, they come over for New Year and Christmas, or just weekends. I have my own steady customers already.”

How do you distribute the income from the services you provide?

O.Sh.: “There is no secret here. It is not my main source of income, I am quite well off. What attracts me most is communicating with people. Accommodating guests is just an extra income. For example, all our last year’s earnings were invested in the development of the accommodation for tourists.”

Do you get any help from the Union for Country Green Tourism?

O.Sh.: “Yes, sure! It is an organization, no bureaucrat can threaten it with impunity, like they do with individual owners. If it were not for the Union, there would be no green tourism in this country.”