Tour operators note the reduction of tourists in Transcarpathia

Now tourist sites of Transcarpathia are almost completely filled. Moreover, the quality of services provided becomes better with each year. This was stated during a press conference at the press center "ZP" by the chairman of the Association of tourism enterprises of Transcarpathia, president of the tour operator "Busol voyage" Volodymyr Chepa.
In winter, people go to Transcarpathia basically to go skiing, says Volodymyr Chepa. To attract tourists in the off-season, the operators are trying to provide them with interesting activities – tours and festivals. Now, there is stretched in time "Beaujolais", then there will be celebrating of Christmas in the folk customs, old New Year … So we have a lot to show, however the prices are high. 
Therefore foreign countries are very popular for mass tourism, particularly Slovakia, where the cost of holiday is almost the same as in our region, there are 50 percent discounts for children. People sometimes go there even without the mediation of tour operators.  
Overall, in 10 months of this year in Transcarpathia they have provided travel services for almost 380 million hryvnias. But regarding the number of tourists who come to us, there is a recession. "To find a tourist today is not easy," – concludes Volodymyr Chepa.
Natalia Holyavytska, head of the tour agency "Alltours-Ukraine", also confirms: intermediary services are less in demand because people buy tickets themselves over the internet. "Although we often offer to book flights for less mobey than at airline sites – emphasizes Natalia. – As for the New Year holidays, she said, that over the past 8 years the climate has been letting us down, there is no snow at this time, so it is almost impossible to go skiing in Transcarpathia. But starting from the end of January – you are welcomed!". Despite this, almost all the seats on camps for the New Year’s Eve are already booked. Although such a celebration is very expensive – 2 thousand hryvnias for a dinner with entertainment.   
When talking about the problems of Transcarpathian tourism, visitors expressed a common opinion: until our region has high-quality and affordable rail and air communications we can not attract potential tourists from neighboring countries en masse. But without the support from the state this problem is unlikely to be resolved. Egypt and Turkey, for example, raised their tourism industries by introducing government subsidies for air travel.