Yesinia, Zakarpattia Oblast, 12 September 2025 — The interregional conference "Creative Economy: Tourism and Crafts as Drivers of Community Development," held from 8 to 10 September in Zakarpattia, brought together approximately 70 experts from 13 Ukrainian oblasts to discuss innovative approaches to local economic development during wartime. 

Conference attendees — representatives of regional administrations, local communities, crafts producers, and local brand owners, as well as tourism industry experts and academics — explored opportunities for combining natural resources, cultural heritage, and entrepreneurial talent to create competitive tourism and craft products. 

According to data from the State Agency of Ukraine for Tourism Development, despite the full-scale war, Ukraine's tourism industry is recovering from the crisis. As a result, in 2024, it brought more than US$650,000 to regional budgets, which is 20% more than in 2023. The leading regions in terms of the dynamics of tourism revenue are located in the West of Ukraine (up 46%), but these revenues also increased significantly in the North and Centre (by 26% and 20%, respectively).  

The conference covered a wide range of creative economy areas, including agriculture, cultural, food, medical rehabilitation, and green tourism, as well as the formation of cross-sector partnerships between communities, businesses, and civil society organizations. 

Among the key topics discussed were: 

• Best practices and examples from different regions of Ukraine — from food tours to craft cooperatives.
• Challenges for the development of the creative economy: the lack of resources and personnel, as well as the risk of losing authenticity.
• The importance of an inclusive and gender-sensitive approach to the development of local initiatives.
• Creating sustainable business models in the tourism and craft industries. 

As part of the conference, participants visited enterprises in Zakarpattia — goat and cow farms, bakeries, cheese factories, breweries, and art spaces — that demonstrate a successful combination of tourism, crafts, and entrepreneurship. 

A separate element of the programme was a visit to the village of Kvasy, where participants were introduced to the "Tsypa" brewery, the history of "Hutsul perepichka" (a type of flatbread), and the rehabilitation tourism sphere, which demonstrated how local initiatives are transformed into sustainable business models. 

The event was organized by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine together with Zakarpattia Oblast State Administration and the Yasinia Village Territorial Community under the “Empowered Partnership for Sustainable Recovery” (EPSR) project funded by the Government of Sweden, represented by the Swedish Development Agency (Sida), and implemented by the UNDP Ukraine. 

Media enquiries:  

Yuliia Samus, UNDP Ukraine Head of Communications and Advocacy; e-mail: yuliia.samus@undp.org