---
title: "How Ukrainian Tourism Has Transformed Over the Years of War: The Sea Returns, and Rest Becomes a Way to Recover"
description: "Alexey Voytsekhovsky, founder of the 'To the Sea and to the Mountains' portal, describes how domestic tourism in Ukraine has restructured over the years of war: demand for the sea is growing, geography is expanding, and rest is becoming a way of psychological recovery."
date: 2026-08-22T12:20:05.000Z
lang: en
url: https://xab.info/en/posts/ukrainian-tourism-transforms-during-war-sea-returns
tags: [ukraine-tourism, domestic-tourism, odessa, carpathians, travel-behavior, war-impact]
publisher: "XAB.info"
---

# How Ukrainian Tourism Has Transformed Over the Years of War: The Sea Returns, and Rest Becomes a Way to Recover

![A group of hikers with backpacks checks a map on a forest trail — an example of domestic hiking tourism in Ukraine as a way to recover](https://xab.info/media/2026/08/22/ukrainskyi-turizm-pid-chas-viyni-more-povernutasya/ukrainskyi-turizm-pid-chas-viyni-more-povernutasya-1.webp)

## 🎯 Key Points

- Ukrainian domestic tourism has not disappeared, but has decreased relative to pre-war levels and significantly restructured: tourists now evaluate the entire trip scenario, not just price and location.
- The current season records one of the highest post-war levels of interest in seaside holidays, while demand is distributed more widely—towards Zalyv, Karolino-Buhaz, Koblevo, and other coastal territories.
- The key new factor is psychological recovery: rest is perceived as a way to exit the mode of constant tension for a few days.
- All conclusions are based on long-term observation of the audience of one tourism service and do not constitute government statistics or a representative survey.

### Domestic Tourism Has Not Disappeared, But Has Significantly Restructured

According to Alexey Voytsekhovsky, founder of the tourism portal 'To the Sea and to the Mountains', Ukrainian domestic tourism has not disappeared during the war, although it has decreased compared to pre-war figures. The key change, in his observations, lies in the logic of demand: tourists have stopped choosing a holiday based on the simple principle of 'sea means sea, mountains means mountains' and have started evaluating the entire trip scenario as a whole. The author emphasizes that his conclusions are based not on a single seasonal snapshot, but on years of tracking the behavior of his service's users and constant communication with accommodation owners on sea resorts and in the Carpathians. It is this long-term perspective, he says, that allows separating sustainable trends from random factors—weather, power outages, or local changes in safety.

### From Simple Choice to Evaluating the Entire Scenario and Psychological Recovery

Voytsekhovsky notes that modern tourists find it harder to make a decision: people are increasingly weighing not only price, photos, and location, but also what they are willing to pay for, why they are willing to travel far, and what exactly should give them a few days away from their usual tense life. He separately highlights the factor of psychological recovery, which was discussed much less before. After several years of war, a holiday for many has become a way to change their rhythm, get enough sleep, spend time with family, and regain a sense of the 'finitude' of life. According to the author, it is this emotional component that today determines the most noticeable changes in travelers' preferences.

### The Sea Returns Stronger Than Expected

In the current season, according to the portal's observations, there is a very high interest in seaside holidays—practically the most noticeable since the start of the full-scale war. At first glance, this looks like a paradox: the security situation remains complex, especially in Odesa, where air raids, risks, and issues regarding the use of beaches in popular locations persist. However, tourist behavior, according to Voytsekhovsky, shows that the need to return to the familiar summer scenario, even briefly, turned out to be very strong. For a person living in constant tension, the sea transforms from just sun and beach into a memory of normal life—the opportunity to wake up not to a siren, but to the sound of waves, and for a few days to feel that life consists of more than just news and worries.

### Geography of Demand Expands, and Tourists Are Willing to Compromise

An important consequence of the growing interest in the sea is travelers' willingness to compromise. If previously a person might have refused a trip due to a small difference in comfort or lack of familiar infrastructure, now some tourists accept certain inconveniences for the very fact of resting by the sea. Therefore, this season attention is distributed not only towards the traditionally popular Odesa, but also towards resort locations that until recently seemed like less obvious choices: Zalyv, Karolino-Buhaz, Koblevo, and other coastal territories. A simple logic works here: when accommodation in one place becomes more expensive and it becomes harder to find free options, the tourist starts looking wider, and any location with a sea, normal access, and a minimum set of services becomes a competitor to the most famous spots. As a result, seaside holidays gradually cease to be a story about one or two famous locations, and demand is distributed more widely.

### Caveats: This Is an Expert Observation, Not Government Statistics

It is important to consider the nature of the data presented. Voytsekhovsky directly points out that his conclusions are not a sociological survey or government statistics, but a practical observation of the real behavior of the audience of one specific tourism service. This means that the reflected dynamics well describe trends within the portal's audience but are not a representative sample of the whole country. Furthermore, the author himself emphasizes that one season can be deceptive: it is influenced by weather, power outages, and changes in safety. Therefore, the described shifts—growth in interest in the sea, expansion of geography, focus on psychological recovery—should be perceived as a sustainable trend fixed over a long distance, rather than as an exact quantitative measurement of the market.

## 🔍 Fact-Check Verification

- [How the Ukrainian Tourist Changed During the War: The Sea Returns, the Carpathians Do Not Retreat](https://wave.rbc.ua/ukr/trips/k-zminivsya-ukrayinskiy-turist-pid-chas-viyni-1787314738.html) - Единственный источник — экспертное наблюдение основателя портала «На море и в горы» Алексея Войцеховского. Подтверждает: сокращение внутреннего туризма относительно довоенного уровня при его перестройке; высокий поствоенный спрос на море; расширение географии (Залив, Каролино-Бугаз, Коблево); роль психологического восстановления. Оговорка: автор сам указывает, что это не госстатистика и не соцопрос, а наблюдение за аудиторией одного сервиса, поэтому данные не являются репрезентативными по стране.

## ❓ FAQ

### Q: Did domestic tourism in Ukraine disappear during the war?
**A:** No. According to the observations of the founder of the portal 'To the Sea and to the Mountains', domestic tourism has not disappeared, although it has noticeably decreased compared to pre-war figures. The main change is in the logic of demand: tourists have become more careful in choosing what they are willing to pay for and why they are traveling, evaluating the entire trip scenario rather than just price and location.

### Q: Why is demand for seaside holidays growing in the current season despite security risks?
**A:** According to the author, the need to return to the familiar summer scenario, even briefly, turned out to be very strong: for people living in constant tension, the sea has become a way of psychological recovery—waking up not to a siren, but to the sound of waves, and exiting the mode of worry for a few days. Some tourists have also become willing to compromise and accept certain inconveniences for the very fact of resting by the sea.

### Q: Are the presented data government statistics?
**A:** No. Alexey Voytsekhovsky directly states that this is not a sociological survey or government statistics, but a practical long-term observation of the behavior of the audience of his tourism service and communication with accommodation owners on sea resorts and in the Carpathians. Therefore, the reflected trends describe the dynamics within the portal's audience and are not a representative measurement of the entire market.