OREANDA-NEWS. August 02, 2013. Ukraine has received the status of a country coordinator of the Working Group on Tourism for the period until 30 June 2015. This decision was taken during the 28th meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), which was held in Odessa.

"The appointment of Ukraine the country coordinator of the Working Group on Tourism of the Organization BSEC offers great opportunities for implementing a number of initiatives of our country to promote tourism in the Black Sea region," vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Olexandr Vilkul said.

He noted that the main objectives of cooperation are, in particular, the creation of regional international tourism products, as well as the formation of the main directions of marketing strategy in tourism of the countries of the region.

"One of the priorities for the development of tourism in the Black Sea region is the development of cruise tourism because this type of tourism is a promising area of socio-economic development of coastal areas of all BSEC countries," Olexandr Vilkul said.

Ukraine has proposed countries of the region to develop a unified strategy for the development of cruise tourism in the Black Sea until 2025 for the proper formation and implementation of all necessary tasks.

Such cooperation within the BSEC can significantly increase the investment attractiveness of the region, which will provide more efficient use of all available resources and contribute to the competitiveness of all countries of Black Sea region at the global tourism market.

The State Agency of Ukraine for Tourism and Resorts will develop an Action Plan of the Working Group for two years to implement the initiative, which will be discussed in autumn of 2013 at a meeting of the Ministers of Tourism of the BSEC member states, which will be held in Kyiv within the Second Kyiv International Tourism Forum with the participation of Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Taleb Rifai.