Consequences and challenges of a visa-free regime with the EU for tourism industry of Ukraine.

Abstract

The article proposes a methodology for calculating the real effect of the visa-free regime coming into force in the context of outbound tourism. The index of the real effect of visa-free regime has been calculated. The main reasons for the low effect of visa-free regime coming into force have been given. These are: low incomes of the Ukrainians; devaluation of hryvnia; monopoly on the production of foreign biometric passports; symmetrical liberalization of the entry regime with Turkey. The aspects of visa-free regime functioning in Ukraine have been formulated: low efficiency of visa-free regime coming into force; planned travels of the Ukrainians regardless of the visa-free regime coming into force; low number of refusals to the Ukrainians on entering the EU countries; prevalence of automobile (bus) border crossings; disproportion of the geography of countries of entry; low attendance of touristy attractive European countries. The main consequences and challenges of a visa-free regime for the tourism industry of Ukraine have been defined: the low real effect of taking the advantaged of visa-free regime for traveling to the EU countries as tourists; an insignificant loss of incomes of the representatives of the national tourism industry; the reduction of incomes of companies that provided services for processing documents for obtaining a Schengen visa; the improvement of the services of the national hospitality industry, formation of a high-quality tourism product in connection with the opportunity to adopt the best experience of hospitality in the EU countries; the development of the border infrastructure which also affects the activization of the tourism flows from the EU countries; the reduction of Russian propaganda influence thanks to the activization of real contacts between the Ukrainians and the EU citizens.