MILITARY TOURISM IN UKRAINE

Marta Pavliuk
Research supervisor: Victoria Danylenko
Candidate of Economic Science, Associate Professor
Language tutor: Oksana Nychko
Candidate of Philological Sciences, Associate Professor
International Tourism and Hotel Business department
Western Ukrainian National University

Problem Statement. The military tourism is relatively new for Ukraine, but it
is widespread in Europe and other parts of the world, where monuments or things
from the First or Second World Wars have been preserved. The Armed Forces of
Ukraine need significant funding, and the development of military tourism can
contribute to this, with the help of donations from tourists and travel companies.
Objectives. The main goal of the work is to learn about the prospects for the
development of military tourism in Ukraine.
Methods*i. Military tourism is clearly related to the various military activities
of a particular country, and more specifically to visiting the sites of historical battles,
concentration camps, prisons, de-occupied settlements and other military sites.
As a result of the military actions of the Russian Federation on the territory of
Ukraine, a significant amount of tourist resources was under threat.
Before the start of hostilities in 2022, Himmler's Hegewald bunker, located in
Zhytomyr, was the most popular among military place in Ukraine. Also, quite popular
and unique in Ukraine is the Museum of Strategic Missile Forces, which is located in
the Pervomaisk, Mykolaiv region. This museum has only one analogue - the Museum
of Strategic Aviation in the USA. 2, р.74
After the de-occupation of the Kyiv region in April 2022, Ukrainian tour
operators began to think about creating tours to the liberated cities, namely: Bucha,
Irpin, Borodyanka and other towns that withstood the Russian invasion.
«KhersON» tourist operator offers tours to the famous village of
Chornobayivka in the Kherson region. Booking tours to this village began even when
it was occupied by Russian troops, but tourists will be able to visit Chornobayivka
only after the victory. Because the tourist operator does not want to risk the lives of
visitors and its workers, since the right bank of the Dnipro is still under frequent
shelling. The tour program includes an inspection of broken enemy equipment,
shooting range with Z and V symbols, as well as meet with local residents about the
time of the occupation.
Service portal the "Visit Ukraine" has developed nine different tours, each of
which highlights the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Tours are
already implemented in the following cities: Bucha and Irpin, Kharkiv and Mykolaiv.
There is already a developed tour of Mariupol, but tourists will be able to visit it only
after the release.
Of course, all these excursions are not for the faint of heart. Not everyone will
be able to listen to all these psychologically difficult stories of tour guides and see
this horror with their own eyes.
 Results. Military tourism has a long history and significant development
prospects. Until recently, 14 associations of military tourism worked in Europe. The
work of the military tourism industry is coordinated by the World Association of
Military Tourism, whose headquarters are in Paris.
Conclusions. In Ukraine, there are many objects from the First and Second
World Wars for the development of military tourism, and after the end of the Russian-
Ukrainian war, there will be even more of them. All these objects can receive tens of
thousands of tourists every year who are interested in military operations on the
territory of our state. Now, during the war, it is difficult to make predictions about the
development of tourism in general. Because there is a large amount of destroyed
infrastructure, housing stock, enterprises, which affects the standard of living of
Ukrainians. Now, Ukraine is a brand. Thus, after our victory, inbound tourism will
increase. At least there are prerequisites for this, although there is a need for high-
quality marketing campaigns in various countries of the world to encourage
foreigners to visit our country.

References
1. Мельник А.В. Нестандартні види туризму: особливості
функціонування військового туризму // Збірник наукових праць Військового
інституту Київського національного університету імені Тараса Шевченка. 2011.
Вип.33. С.350-353.
2. Чикайло Ю.І., Стадницька В.А., Волошин І.М. Військово-історичні
музеї України як об’єкти військового туризму // Географія та туризм. 2015.
Вип.32.
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* - тут і далі переклад мій, М.Павлюк