State Tourism Development Agency (DART) started accepting applications from communities of Ukraine for the competition within the UN Tourism initiative «The Best Tourism Villages» (The Best Tourism Villages) for 2025.
The goal of the initiative is to draw attention to villages and towns, where tourism not only contributes to the preservation and popularization of historical, geographical, cultural, socio-economic, natural, ecological, ethnic and gastronomic features, but also helps to protect the biodiversity of the region and increase the contribution of tourism to the economic development of rural areas.
«Like last year, according to the conditions of the competition, no more than 8 participants from each country can be submitted. Candidates from Ukraine will be selected by a commission of independent experts specially created under DART, who will evaluate the applications in accordance with the requirements of UN Tourism. DART’s partner in organizing the competition will be Rural Green Tourism in Ukraine — Rural Green Tourism in Ukraine.» — noted the organizers.
Villages that will be selected in Ukraine will be submitted for review by an independent external Advisory Council at UN Tourism. It consists of experts from various fields who will evaluate applications according to three key criteria of sustainable development: economy, social sphere and environment.
The list of selected villages will be published in the fourth quarter of this year on the official resources of UN Tourism and DART.
