Ukraine’s Odesa city joins World Tourism Network

Tuesday, March 28, 2023

The Odesa City Council’s Department of Culture, International Relations, and European Integration became the Global Tourism Network’s newest destination member yesterday. With the addition of Odesa, the World Tourism Network now has members from 130 countries.

World Tourism Network is the voice of small and medium-sized travel and tourism businesses around the world.

WTN Chairman Juergen Steinmetz said, “World Tourism Network is proud to welcome Odesa among our member destinations.”

Ivan Liptuga, the new acting Director of the Odesa City Council’s Department of Culture, International Relations, and European Integration, has been a board member of WTN from its inception in 2020.

Ivan Liptuga said, “We want to join World Tourism Network to establish new business contacts, share experience in tourism development, and gain experience from other countries.”

WTN has named him a tourism hero, and he co-founded the WTN “Scream for Ukraine” campaign. Ivan formerly served as the head of the Ministry of Economic Development of Ukraine’s Directorate of Tourism and Resorts.

He is now the head of the National Tourism Organization of Ukraine and Ukraine’s representative at the International Chamber of Commerce on marketing issues.

Steinmetz further stated, “Ivan is a go-getter. He has been a part of the World Tourism Network. We congratulate his new responsible for leading tourism for the beautiful Ukrainian city of Odesa.”

He added, “The people of Odesa and tourism is resilient. Ivan has been a face for Ukraine Tourism before and even more so after the Russian aggression against his country unfolded.”

Odesa is Ukraine’s third most populated city and a significant seaport and transportation centre on the Black Sea’s northern coast. Odesa is also the Odesa Oblast’s administrative headquarters and a multi-ethnic cultural centre.

The Historic Center of Odesa is a densely developed district characterised by two- to four-story buildings and broad perpendicular streets bordered with trees that bore testament to the city’s fast expansion until the early 20th century.

The UNESCO World Heritage part of Odesa includes theatres, religious structures, schools, private palaces and tenement houses, clubs, hotels, banks, shopping centres, warehouses, stock exchanges, terminals, and other public and administrative buildings designed by architects and engineers, primarily from Italy in the early years, as well as from other nationalities.

The architecture of the old city centre is characterised by eclecticism. The site bears testament to the city’s extraordinarily diversified ethnic and religious populations, serving as an exceptional example of 19th-century intercultural contacts and the rise of multicultural and multi-ethnic Eastern European towns.

The main tasks of the Department of Culture, International Relations and European Integration of Odesa City Council in the field of tourism are:

1) ensuring the implementation of state tourism policy in Odesa city’s territory;

2) formation of a positive image of Odesa, popularisation of the city, active promotion of the Odesa brand in the main target and new tourist markets;
3) promotion of tourist activities in the city and the creation of modern tourist infrastructure;
4) establishment of tourism-related cooperation and contact with international agencies and organisations;
5) co-ordination and regulation of excursion activities on Odesa’s territory, as well as the quality of tourism services;
6) promoting the growth of the film industry in Odesa and the surrounding region.

Notably, WTN brings to the forefront the needs and aspirations of small and medium-sized businesses and their stakeholders by uniting efforts.

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