Head of the State Agency for Tourism Development (SATD) Maryana Oleskiv announced that SATD will become a member of the European Travel Commission (ETC). Today, the European Travel Commission officially invited SATD to join the organization.

During the General Meeting, the members of the ETC - heads of the National Tourism Authorities (NGOs) of Europe - expressed their full solidarity with Ukraine and decided to start the procedure for granting SATD membership for at least three years on a free basis. At the end of this period, an additional decision on standard membership will be made.

The main mission of the ETC is to represent the interests of national tourism authorities in Europe, to promote European countries as a tourist destination around the world, to provide unique expertise to its members and a solid basis for strategic cooperation and exchange of experience. The decision on complementary membership in the ETC for Ukraine will allow SATD to use all the resources of this organization and attract investments and funds in the construction of tourist locations.

During the meeting, ETC President Luis Araujo noted that the Commission intends to establish an Aid Fund, the funds of which will be used to restore the tourist and recreational infrastructure of Ukraine. Thus, one of the main tasks of SATD today is to document the damage to tourist locations caused by Russia, as well as to develop a strategy for the restoration of the Ukrainian tourism sector.

Until recently, Ukraine was one of the few European countries that did not have the privilege of membership in the ETC. In recent months, the DART team has made significant efforts to integrate Ukraine's tourism environment more deeply into the European community, as well as working with dozens of key countries around the world to offset any cooperation with Russia in the international arena.