While in 2013 there were 106 cruise ships in Odessa, well known cruise destination in Ukraine, currently there is just four of them. War, political instability and economic crisis in the country have caused serious damage to the transit potential and cruise tourism in the Odessa area and all southern regions of Ukraine.
According to experts, the Odessa region has suffered heavy losses in many areas. The war and political instability in the south of Ukraine, as well as terrorist attacks in Turkey have affected the development of local cruise tourism.
The sector developed rapidly in the recent years. In 2013 there were 106 cruise ships in Odessa, in 2014 32, the year after 13 and this year 4. It is also important to point out that major international infrastructure projects will be cancelled. These projects could have expanded the transit potential of the region.
In particular, the creation of a transport corridor around the Black Sea. It was meant to be established within the Organization of Black Sea Economic Cooperation.
It seems that the people in the Odessa region can only think of better tomorrows, because in the last ten years there have been nine governors. Many of them worked on political issues, rather than the problems of regional management. To date, half of the area does not have any administration, while the majority of them are not trusted by district councils. Such situation have been harmful for the local cruise tourism.