27.08.2009
The most attractive large cities of Ukraine for tourists
- Two thirds of surveyed citizens named Kyiv as the most attractive city for tourists, half named Lviv, and more than one third named Odesa. Other large cities of Ukraine did not receive more than 10% of preferences. While Kyiv ranked first in almost every region of Ukraine, except for the South where Odesa took the lead, other cities were evaluated very differently across regions. Lviv was rated highly in terms of tourist attractiveness in the West, Center, North, and East; Odesa in the South and Donbas; Kharkiv only in the East; and Donetsk only in Donbas. Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia received rather low ratings everywhere.
- In the West, Lviv as the most attractive tourist city in Ukraine received 59% of preferences and Odesa 34%, while in the South the situation was reversed, with 32% for Lviv and 59% for Odesa. There were also differences in evaluations depending on demographic characteristics. For example, the higher the level of education and material well-being and the lower the age of respondents, the fewer undecided answers were recorded. Urban residents were more informed about the tourist potential of large cities than rural residents.
- Regarding Lviv and Kyiv, there was a clear relationship: the higher the level of education, the higher the attractiveness ratings of these cities. Lviv was more often mentioned by people who rated their own material well-being highly, while Odesa was more often chosen by young people. Interestingly, Lviv and Kyiv were more often named by respondents who identified as Ukrainians by nationality, whereas Odesa and Kharkiv were more often named by ethnic Russians.
- The mayors of Kharkiv, Kyiv, and Lviv were considered the best city leaders, each receiving 11–12% of support nationwide. The mayors of Donetsk and Odesa were mentioned by 9–10% of respondents, and the mayors of Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro by about 5%. It should be noted that 19% of respondents said that none of the mayors of large cities could be considered the best, while another 43% were unable to give an answer. The responses differed noticeably by region. Andrii Sadovyi was recognized as the best city leader in the West at 20% and in the Center at 17%, Leonid Chernovetskyi in the North at 15% and in the South at 15%, Mykhailo Dobkin in the East at 27%, and Oleksandr Lukianchenko in Donbas at 31%. Eduard Hurvits received his highest ratings in the South at 13%, while Yevhen Kartashov and Ivan Kulichenko received their highest ratings in the East at 14% and 12% respectively.
- In addition to regional differences, demographic patterns were also evident. Among those who were undecided, there were more people with lower levels of education and lower material well-being. The higher the level of education of respondents, the higher the ratings given to Andrii Sadovyi and Eduard Hurvits. Depending on self-assessed material well-being, Oleksandr Lukianchenko received higher ratings.
- Interestingly, Mykhailo Dobkin and Leonid Chernovetskyi received almost twice as low ratings from rural residents as from urban residents, while Andrii Sadovyi and Oleksandr Lukianchenko, on the contrary, received better ratings from respondents living in rural areas. The mayor of Lviv ranked first among respondents who identified as Ukrainians by nationality, while the mayors of Kharkiv and Donetsk received almost twice as high ratings from ethnic Russians than from ethnic Ukrainians.
Methodology
The survey was conducted by Rating Group.
- Fieldwork dates: 2–15 August 2009.
- Sample size: 2,000 respondents aged 18 and older.
- The margin of error does not exceed 3.3%.
- The regional classification was as follows: West: Volyn, Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Rivne, Ternopil, Chernivtsi. Center: Vinnytsia, Kirovohrad, Poltava, Khmelnytskyi, Cherkasy. North: Kyiv city, Kyiv region, Zhytomyr, Sumy, Chernihiv. South: Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Odesa, Kherson, Mykolaiv. East: Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv. Donbas: Donetsk and Luhansk.
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