INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF TOURISM

On 23 February 2007, the international conference "New opportunities for cross-border tourism development in Carpathian Euroregion" took place, which gathered more than one hundred participants from Ukraine, Slovakia and Hungary. There were representatives of tourist infocentres, enterprises and resort centres, famous tourism magazines, civil society organizations and state institutions, scientists and journalists. The conference was organized by the Ukrainian-Hungarian Regional Development Centre together with Transcarpathian Regional State Administration within the implementation of the project in the framework of the "Hungary-Slovakia-Ukraine Neighbourhood INTERREG IIIA/TACIS" EU Program.

The conference was begun with welcome speeches of representatives from Transcarpathian Regional State Administration, Transcarpathian Regional Council, Tourism and Health Resorts State Department of Ukraine, Carpathian Euroregion International Secretariate.

Representatives of Transcarpathian, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Chernivtsi Regional State Administrations told about tourist and recreation opportunities of their regions. Jozsef Tarpai, director of the Ukrainian-Hungarian Regional Development Centre, represented successful cross-border projects that were realized during last years in Carpathian Euroregion. Pal Barta from Slovakia and Valentyn Voloshyn spoke about the Slovakian-Ukrainian tourism projects. Arpad Hanusz (Hungary) and Juriy Zinko (Ukraine) acquainted the participants with the tendencies of rural green tourism development in Carpathian region. Vasyl Harahonych (Mukachevo Technological Institute) and Stepan Pop (Uzhgorod National University) spoke about the problems bound with preparing of specialists. Tomas Varhegyi of Sobolch-Sotmar-Bereg Regional Development Agency (Hungary) told about realization of the new project, aimed at cross-border tourism development between Transcarpathian and Sobolch-Sotmar-Bereg regions. Arrangement and marking of Transcarpathian tourism routes was one more question of urgent importance on this conference, in particular Natalia Voloshyna acquainted the participants with the work of FORZA project in this field.

The participants of the conference have reached conclusion, that for efficient tourism development it is necessarily to make the following steps: to draft tourism development strategy for the whole Carpatian Euroregion; to mark tourist routes in accordance with the unified system of signs; to prepare specialists in the field of tourism taking into consideration possibility personnel exchange throughout Carpatian region; to create a unified system of tourist infocentres, even if in Ukraine. Now a publication of speeches and description of successful tourism projects, realized in Carpathian region, is prepared.