17. Functions of guides, tour operators and travel agents in tourism

The tourism industry is so sprawling that job definitions are not always precise. The classic tourism job is that of guide or representative (formerly known as couriers), the person who looks after holidaymakers. Guides work in a town, city or area and usually return to base each evening whereas tour guides (managers), directors travel round with their clients staying in a different place most nights. A tour operator puts together the components of a holiday package or tour, booking accommodation, travel and services. The people who work in the office in charge of the bookings, budget, etc. are “destination managers,” most of whom were once reps or guides themselves. Travel agents (or consultants as they prefer to be called in the US) have the job of selling the packages created by tour operators. Travel agencies are like any high street store rather than designer studios. They are retail outlets which, like high-street stores, are often part of a national chain.

18. Main tourist centres of ukraine. Places of interest in ukraine

International cooperation with many countries of the world is developing extensively. Ukraine takes part in international tourist exchange. It is a comparatively small country occupying a favourable geographic position in the centre of Europe. It has common frontiers with many European states, a development network of air, railway, river, sea and motor routes. It is hard to overestimate the wealth of its natural, historical and cultural potential. The most popular tourist regions are the Crimea, Prychornomorya, Prydnistrovys, Podillya, Volyn, and such cities as Kyiv, Odessa and Lviv. These are ecologically pure places, centres of rich natural, historical and cultural resources. They may be turned into major tourist centres provided that they are well funded and due institutional reform is implemented, Ukraine is among those countries which use their natural resources intensively. The Ukrainian nature sanctuary is a national wealth. It comprises about 6,000 items with the total area of 680,000 hectares. The Carpathian biosphere reservation, Carpathian national wildlife park, Shatsky national park, Synevirsky national park and the Askania Nova preserve are the major places of interest. There are about 200,000 cultural, historical, architectural and archaeological monuments, places and parks, and more than 300 museums in Ukraine. Seven national historical cultural reservation areas have been created. The monuments of Kyivan Rus dating back to the 9 - 12th centuries are the most valuable ones. About 80% of the monuments of that period are found in Ukraine. The n s important of them, Kyiv Pechersk Lavra and St. Sophia Cathedral have been included to UNESCO’s registers. Tourists might be interested in visiting places connected with lives of prominent figures in history and culture: Hryhory Skovoroda, Taras Shevchenko, Lesya Ukrayinka and others. Tourists have a good opportunity to come closer to Ukrainian folk culture, songs, dances and cuisine. The state pays much attention to the restoration of its historical and cultural monuments. The national network of tourist and excursion routes of different historical and cultural themes has been developed in the area most densely packed with monuments, which covers 12 regions of Ukraine, namely towns along the banks of the Dnipro and the city of Kyiv. The whole network is called the Beads of Slavutych, and its purpose is to preserve and effectively use historical and cultural monuments, and to develop tourism. It comprises the Great Silk Way, the culture of Kyivan Rus, the Ukrainian Cossacks, folk traditions and folklore, the art of gardens and parks, etc.; the routes of different orientation (hunting, horse racing, sport and fitness tournaments) for different categories of excursionists (children, youth, foreign tourists, etc.). We still need foreign aid to preserve and reconstruct our historical and cultural monuments. The success of the development and profitability of tourism depends on the condition of our environment. From this perspective, tourism can be regarded as a model of environmentally safe sector of economy. The estimates of experts regarding the development of tourist and rest zones in Ukraine allow to reserve 1.3 million hectares of territory for this business, although the investigated total area of land valuable for tourism is much bigger and constitutes 9.4 million hectares. The future of the Ukrainian tourism sector is connected with its ecological orientation. Ukraine is open to the international cooperation.