Four Ukrainian Villages Included in List of the World’s Best Tourism Villages

Ukrainian communities have earned international recognition for developing tourism and preserving cultural heritage. Among them are villages from Zakarpattia, Lviv region, and Ivano-Frankivsk region.

This was announced at a Kyiv briefing with the participation of representatives from UN Tourism.

Ukraine already has four village-winners of the international initiative “Best Tourism Villages.” They received the awards following 2024 and 2025 years.

Included in the list are Kolotsava in Zakarpattia, Urich in Lviv region, Vorokhta in Ivano-Frankivsk region, and Sinevirska Polyana in Zakarpattia.

This year Ukraine also presented five more villages to the international competition. The results of the new selection will be announced in October.

For communities, such status means not only tourist recognition. It helps attract the attention of international partners, expand cooperation, and promote local history and culture.

Community representatives noted that the international award confirmed their work and opened up new development opportunities.

“This is international recognition of our contribution. Thanks to this, we have new incentives for future collaborations. This recognition gives new opportunities for cooperation, finding new partners, and further development,” they said during the briefing.

Vasyl Khudynets, head of the Kolochava community, spoke separately about the significance of the status. According to him, the village has long worked to make tourism one of the important components of the local economy.

International recognition, in his words, helped strengthen this direction.

“If you drive to Kolochava today, from today you will be driving to the best tourist village in the world,” said Khudynets.

For Ukrainian communities, such recognition became an opportunity to simultaneously develop tourism, preserve unique heritage, and support economic development of their territories.