Four Ukrainian villages have received international recognition in the tourism sector
During the UN Tourism chief’s first visit to Ukraine in 10 years, special attention was given to Ukrainian communities that have received international recognition as part of the “Best Tourism Villages” initiative. Based on the results from 2024 and 2025, Ukraine already has four winners, and this year it submitted five more nominees.
Among the Ukrainian winners for 2024–2025 are Kolochava in Zakarpattia, Urych in Lviv Oblast, Vorokhta in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, and Synevyrska Polyana in Zakarpattia.
This year, Ukraine submitted five more villages to the international competition. The results are expected to be announced in October.
Community representatives emphasize that international status is important not only from a tourism or image perspective. It helps attract new partners, develop international contacts, promote cultural heritage, and create new opportunities for community development.
“This is international recognition of our contribution. Thanks to this, we have new impetus for future collaborations. This recognition opens up new opportunities for cooperation, for finding new partners, and for further development,” they noted during a briefing.
Vasyl Khudynets, head of the Kolochava community, explained that the village has long been working to make tourism one of the key economic drivers of the community’s development.
According to him, this international recognition has provided new momentum for this process.
“If you were simply heading to the village of Kolochava today, from now on you’ll be heading to the world’s best tourist village,” Khudynets noted.
For Ukrainian communities, participation in the “Best Tourism Villages” program is an opportunity to simultaneously attract tourists, preserve local cultural heritage, and boost regional economic development.
This was discussed during a briefing in Kyiv attended by representatives of UN Tourism, DART, and Ukrainian communities.
Earlier, in the Zhytomyr region, a unique stone statue—which tourists found in the thickets on the banks of the Sluch River—was added to the Register of Cultural Heritage Sites.
The ancient city of Chersonesos Taurica and its chora have been added to UNESCO’s List of World Heritage Sites in Danger.
