
Today, Ukraine has one of the last places in the list of European countries by the number of hotels. The country has two hotel rooms per thousand of inhabitants on average, while in Europe the figure is no less than fourteen-eighteen.
Imbalance of supply and demand has caused high prices in the hotel business. Room rates in Kiev medium and high priced hotels are from $150 to $500 per night.
Among the favorable factors is the steady increase of tourist flow to Ukraine. In the past five years it steadily increased by 20%. Business tourism is developing most actively.
The Final of UEFA European Football Championship to be held in Ukraine and Poland in 2012 will also have a significant impact on the fate of the hotel industry of the country. According to the Council on tourism and resorts, in accordance with the requirements of UEFA, in 2012 Ukraine will have 34 new or renovated hotels. Eighteen of them are in the segment of four and five stars, and sixteen are in a cheaper category.
According to various expert estimates the number of foreign visitors for the period from June to July 2012 will be between 600 thousand to 1 million. It is expected that the majority of fans will visit Ukraine from western European states. Also a lot of people will come to support the football teams from Russia, Belarus, other CIS countries.
However some hotel operators, as well as developers are skeptical of the idea that Euro 2012 will be a crucial event in the life of the Ukrainian hotels. In their view, a four-week event is not deserving of hype, which is observed today. Its value lies not in the simultaneous influx of masses of tourists who fill the hotels for a certain period of time but in promoting the brand of “Ukraine” and increasing the tourism potential in the future.
Today’s most active construction of hotels is inKiev oblast, a bit less - inLviv oblast, the third place in this ranking is theCrimea, and the following oblasts are close to each other:Lugansk,Rivne,Sumy,Kherson andKhmelnitsky.
International hotel brands began to open hotels in Ukraine more actively today. What is interesting, the hotels are opened not only in the capital cityKiev, but in other regions - recently opened Reikartz Hotels & Resorts inPochaev, for example.
This trend will likely continue in the future. In early spring of 2011 in Kiev it is planned to open first hotel Ibis, and a world renowned operator Louvre Hotels & Golden Tulip plans to build six hotels of Campanile brand in Ukraine.