At the initiative of the Investment Agency, a group of operators and travel agents from Odessa are now taking an informative tour of the Republic of Moldova. Their interest in the tourist potential of our country was the result of the forum dedicated to the Cultural-Tourist Route Voivode "Stephen the Great and Saint", organized by the Investment Agency in December 2020. During this tour, Ukrainian operators visited several famous destinations, such as Soroca Fortress, Tighina Fortress, Țâpova Monastery, and today they are visiting Orheiul Vechi and Milestii Mici.
The tour program also included B2B sessions attended by travel companies, Ukrainian tour operators, and 20 representatives of local tourism industry, including: travel agencies, wineries, HoReCa representatives , tour guides and others. These sessions aimed to diversify the tour service packages offered by operators in both countries.
The destinations visited these days by our Ukrainian guests, together with our tourism actors, are part of the cultural-tourist route "Voivode Stephen the Great and Saint", launched in 2019 as a result of joint institutional efforts between Romania and the Republic of Moldova.
Now the Agency is making efforts to expand the routes both on the territory of the Republic of Moldova, identifying new tourist objectives, as well as their expansion and promotion on the territory of Ukraine.
Rodica Verbeniuc, General Director of the Investment Agency: “The idea was to articulate through a unique route and using a common graphic identity as many cultural-historical and tourist objectives and thus, to maximize the number of tourism beneficiaries who will enjoy a strengthened and consistent promotion. A capitalized tourist route can function as a real economic engine and a tool to directly support the entire ecosystem of the industry, fueling the activity of : guides, HORECA, carriers, and last but not least a vital source for families in rural areas- craftsmen or farmers. The pandemic health and economic crisis, traffic restrictions, remind us how important solidarity and efforts rallying in order tour further recover with maximum resilience are”.
Following the Ukrainian companies visits, Moldova’s tourist destinations are to be included in their offers, thus increasing the number of tourists visiting our country. In 2020, Ukrainian tourists ranked 2nd in the top of foreigners traveling to the Republic of Moldova.