Sea of Azov Tourism Before and After the Russian Invasion: Mariupol
Last week I published an article on the general state of the tourism industry in the Sea of Azov region before and after the Russian occupation. Today I will talk about the Mariupol region, the largest in terms of population, of the Donetsk region. For the whole world, Mariupol became an example of the inexhaustible heroism of the Ukrainian army and the terrible crimes against humanity of the Russian aggressors. The city with a population of more than 500,000 people was literally surrounded and completely destroyed by the Russians.
Mariupol had 5 museums with unique exhibits, including original paintings by Kuindzhi and Aivazovsky, a modern Tourist Information Center with a VR tour and excellent conference halls, 24 hotels, 405 restaurants and cafes, etc. The Mariupol region also had very interesting tourist attractions, including a number of Greek villages located on the coast.
Experts of the tourism development team in the Sea of Azov region, which I headed until the end of 2021, developed a strategy for developing the investment attractiveness of Mariupol’s tourist infrastructure. We also fruitfully cooperated with the Meotida National Park, the government of the Mariupol district, entrepreneurs of the city and the region.
Unfortunately, we do not have an accurate picture of the state of the city and regional infrastructure after the occupation of the city and district by Russia. It is known about the destruction of theaters, looting of museums, desecration of monuments and other actions.
After the liberation of Donbas, the question of demining, inventory and restoration of regional and urban tourist infrastructure, creation of strategic and tactical planning, restoration of attractions, establishment of interaction between entrepreneurs and the government, etc. will arise, because thanks to the development of tourism, post-war Germany and Croatia were restored. We have excellent experience in this field – we studied the region for 1.5 years and created the Roadmap for the development of tourism in the Azov region until 2030. Therefore, we are looking for like-minded people and those who will be interested in restoring tourism in the regions of Ukraine affected by the war.