ウクライナ復興、鍵は「観光」

【マドリードＡＦＰ＝時事】ビーチは攻撃の標的になり、ホテルは閉鎖されたまま。ウクライナはロシアによる侵攻を受け、重要な収入源だった「観光」を奪われた。それでも、観光業の復活こそが戦後復興の「鍵」を握るとみられている。（写真はロシア軍の攻撃に備え、記念碑を保護する人々。ウクライナのキーウで）
　ウクライナ観光開発庁のトップ、マリアナ・オレシキウ氏はＡＦＰの取材に応じ、「戦争が終われば、観光がウクライナの早期復興と経済再興で重要な役割を果たすだろう」と語った。
　同氏はスペイン・マドリードで２２日まで開催の世界最大規模の国際旅行見本市ＦＩＴＵＲで、ウクライナ代表団を率いている。
　終わりはまだ見えない。しかし、政府はすでに観光促進計画の策定に着手しているという。「もちろん、今すぐ観光客に来てもらいたいわけではない」とオレシキウ氏は話す。「安全を取り戻した暁には、受け入れ態勢が整っているよう準備をしたい」
　国連世界観光機関（ＵＮＷＴＯ）の統計によると、ウクライナへの外国人観光客数は、２０１０年まではロシアや東欧からの訪問者を中心に年間２０００万人近くに上り、欧州で８番目に多かった。
　だが、２０１４年に主要な観光地クリミア半島がロシアに併合されると、観光客数は約１２００万人にまで落ち込んだ。
　ロシアが昨年２月２４日に侵攻を開始して以降は、観光業は壊滅状態となった。
　侵攻開始前、観光部門はウクライナ経済の２％を占めていた。観光業を再び盛り上げるのは容易ではなく、大規模投資が必要となる。
　オレシキウ氏は「時間が必要だ」と認める。ただ、黒海のビーチや史跡、家族で楽しめるスキーリゾートなど、ウクライナは潜在的な観光資源に恵まれていると強調する。
　侵攻がもたらすストレスや破壊、ロシアの攻撃の影響で発生した停電から逃れようと、カルパチア山脈には今なお国内旅行者が訪れているという。
　しかし、国内の鉄道網はボロボロになり、歴史的・文化的建造物は破壊されている。そのため、戦争と関連付けられるイメージとどう向き合っていくか、という課題に直面することになる。
　オレシキウ氏は、「戦争の爪痕、それにロシアによる戦争犯罪の跡を見てもらうことが重要だ」と話す。
　しかし、紛争が終わった後には、ウクライナの別のイメージを売り出していく時が来ると強調。「それは勇敢に闘い続けるウクライナ人、というイメージだ」と語った。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/01/20-14:35）

With its beaches targeted by Russian strikes and its hotels empty or closed since the start of the war, Ukraine has been deprived of an important source of income: tourism.
But Kyiv sees a revival of the industry as crucial for Ukraine's post-war reconstruction.
Once the war is over, tourism will play a key role in letting Ukraine recover quickly and rebooting its economy, Mariana Oleskiv, head of Ukraine's SATD tourism development agency, told AFP.
And although the war, which began last February, appears far from over, Ukraine is already working on plans to promote tourism, said Oleskiv, who is heading a Ukrainian delegation to FITUR, one of the world's biggest tourism fairs taking place in Madrid from January 18-22.
Of course, we don't want to invite any tourists to come now: we don?t want them to take risks, even though in some areas of Ukraine the risk is very low, said Oleskiv who has headed the SATD since March 2020.
But the moment the country is safe, we want to be ready to invite people to come and visit, she explained.
By then, she said, Kyiv hoped to have enough partners to promote Ukraine which could be an important (tourist) destination.
- A war-battered sector -
Until the 2010, Ukraine counted close to 20 million foreign visitors a year, mostly coming from Russia and Eastern Europe, UN World Tourism Organization figures show, making it the eighth most-visited country in Europe.
But that figure plummeted to some 12 million in 2014 with Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula -- one of the country's top tourist regions -- and subsequent support for separatist rebels in the vast eastern Donbas region.
And since Russia invaded on February 24, 2022, visitor numbers have collapsed.
There are still domestic tourists, for instance, in the Carpathian mountains which has become a refuge for those seeking to flee the stress and destruction of the war or the electricity cuts due to Russian attacks, Oleskiv said.
But there are no foreign tourists -- although the steady stream of international delegations, journalists and NGOs passing through Kyiv and the western city of Lviv has meant the hotel industry there can survive more or less, she said.
That's not the case in places like the southern port city of Odessa, which lies close to the front line.
It used to be a big touristic place, very dynamic but today the situation is much more difficult, Oleskiv said.
- Image problem -
Before the crisis, tourism accounted for 2.0 percent of Ukraine's economy and getting the sector back on track will be far from easy, requiring major investment.
We will need time, admits the tourism chief, while insisting Ukraine had strong potential for attracting visitors with its Black Sea beaches, its historical sites and family ski resorts.
In recent years, Kyiv has started to look towards new markets such as Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states thanks to visa waivers and new airline routes in a strategy which could easily be expanded.
But with its railway network battered and its historic and cultural buildings destroyed, Ukraine will have to face the challenge of its image problem given its association with war.
It's important to show the consequences of this war and of the war crimes that Russia has committed, Oleskiv said.
And when the war is over, it will be time to start promoting another image of Ukraine, she said: The image of a brave people, of a people that keep on fighting despite everything.