Odesa is confidently returning to the pre-pandemic figure of three million tourists a year. This was stated by the Mayor of the city of Odesa Gennadiy Trukhanov within the framework of the 4th International Mayors Summit, which was held in Kyiv on September, 28.

The topic of this year’s summit is ‘Cities at the Frontline: Progress Despite Global Challenges’. Gennadiy Trukhanov noted that Odesa has proved: if you are looking for opportunities, not excuses, then even during the pandemic it is possible to develop the city’s tourist potential.

At the same time, the Mayor of Odesa emphasized that above all, the development of tourism is not about counting the number of tourists, but about conducting immense work on the infrastructure development and creating comfortable conditions for tourists.

“Seven years ago we started with the restoration of historical landmarks and architectural monuments, improvement of squares and parks, filling them with some attraction points in the form of objects or events. Completely new parks appeared in the city centre i.e. Istanbul and Greek parks. We renovated favourite parks of Odesa citizens, divided them into zones for various activities. The next step was to establish the pedestrian zone in the Odesa city centre for the weekends and holidays,” said the Mayor of Odesa.

Today, the pedestrian zone in Odesa is the largest one in Ukraine. Gennadiy Trukhanov emphasized that the city authorities are doing everything possible to ensure that the status of Odesa as a tourist pearl is not nominal. According to the Mayor, another important aspect of the city development is the cooperation between regional and state authorities: “I am sincerely grateful to the President of Ukraine for the attention he gives to our city, in particular, within the framework of the state programs “Large Restoration” and “Great Construction”. Such interaction has already proved to be effective and increased both the quality of life of Odesa citizens and the tourist attractiveness of our city”.

At the same time, the Mayor highlighted that even the most successful project risks becoming a failure without a competent approach. During the implementation of the pedestrian zone, all the details were carefully thought through.

“The road traffic was modified, new road signs have been installed, a new parking system has been organized, and thus, we have done everything to make the pedestrian zone in the city centre organically fit into the life of Odesa citizens and guests of the city,” said Gennady Trukhanov.

According to the Mayor of Odesa, the pedestrian zone in the Odesa city centre is a unique project that has brought Odesa even closer to the European lifestyle, where a pedestrian zone is traditionally established in the historical centre of the tourist cities.