Accommodation in Lviv: to every taste and for every budget 02.02.2012

Lviv is the city that surely has to be visited. That conclusion was reached in 2010 by the readers of the Lonely Planet - one of the biggest world travel guides. And, of course, it is true, because only Lviv offers more than a hundred mass events during the whole year. Thanks to its infrastructure and rich cultural program, Lviv is the one Ukrainian city, which has the highest tourist potential. Already in 2007 the number of tourists and sightseers in Lviv has increased in comparison with the previous years by 30%, which is amounted to 700 thousand tourists. In 2008  Lviv received 830 thousand visitors, and in 2010 - about 900 thousand. Almost 1 million tourists visited Lviv in 2011. Unique Galician culture of the city attracts people not only from Ukraine but also from abroad – the guests are coming from Poland, Germany, Austria, Byelorussia, the USA, Russia, Britain, Canada, Italy and the Netherlands. Most visitors of Lviv are young people aged between 18 and 28 who are interested, first of all, in leisure and cultural rest.

One of the most important components of tourism industry, which determines its real potential, is the hotel industry. According to the research, which was conducted by the Lausanne Hotel School, the occupancy of the existing hotels and the sheer increase of the number of tourists caused a hotel boom in Lviv. During 2000-2010 Lviv region moved from the ninth to the first place by the number of the existing hotel management companies of Ukraine. In 2010, about 10% of all the visitors, putting up at the hotel establishments of Ukraine, lived in Lviv. Today, city hotel market numbers around 2 800 rooms, which means more than 6 thousand sleeping places. Most investors are interested in renovation of the existing and construction of the new hotels not only in the context of the UEFA European Football Championship in Lviv, but really evaluating the opportunities of Lviv hotel market.

The status of one of the four Ukrainian EURO 2012 Host cities influenced the development of Lviv hotel infrastructure a lot. Only during 2008-2012 Lviv hotel market increased by more than 700 rooms.

The alternative accommodation facilities, hostels, are becoming more and more popular. It is the best option to ensure affordable and comfortable living. In 2008 city offered nearly 8 accommodation establishments, which positioned themselves as hostels. At the beginning of 2012 this number has risen to around 40, with the total capacity of almost 1200 places. They offer European level of service and most of them cooperate with such international travel booking sites as Hostelsclub.com, Hostelworld.com, www.hotelsbooking.com.ua, Hostelbookers.com,  Booking.com, Venere.com and others.

Another alternative and advantageous offer for the guests of the city is apartments for rent. Private apartments for rent occupy their great niche in the accommodation market of Lviv. Due to the great demand, their number is constantly growing - now there are about 800 objects, 40% of which are concentrated in central parts of the city. Usually those, who visited Lviv before, choose this type of accommodation. Despite the fact that the market of rent apartments started to promote itself in the Internet not so long ago, now you can find a lot of special sites, where you can easily book the apartment in Lviv, for example AnyDay.com.ua, doba.ua, miete.com.ua, makler.com.ua, duo.com.ua et al.

Today city offers about 100 hotel accommodation facilities, not including apartments.

International tour operators, including the partner of UEFA EURO 2012TM - Accommodation Agency of Ukraine (TUI Travel Plc) are interested in the developed hotel infrastructure of the city and region a lot. Lviv has a wide range of hotels to accommodate not only UEFA’s Family and football teams, but also the Championship fans. As of January 2012 TUI Travel has signed the agreements with 47 existing hotels in Lviv, region and city-satellites (Ivano-Frankivsk, Lutsk, Ternopil and Uzhhorod) for the total number of rooms 2725 out of 2545 required. On the basis of signed agreements a full hotel database, which was offered to accommodate the Family League, has been created.

To accommodate fans and supporters in Lviv region, who, according to preliminary research, are expected to be more than 400 thousand during the whole Tournament, all the categories of hotels, motels, boarding houses, youth hostels, hostels, private apartments, campings will be used. As of January 2012 the Official Fan Accommodation Agency in Lviv has contracted 7,700 beds in hotels and alternative accommodation facilities in Lviv and Lviv region. In December 2, 2011 the official multilingual site of the Agency has been launched, offering to book the accommodation in Lviv during the Championship.
Travel Company "Hamalia", a leader in the field of tourism in Ukraine, is also interested in housing the Championship fans who will visit Ukraine. It cooperates effectively not only with the Host city of Lviv, but also with its main partner in terms of accommodation infrastructure - health resort Truskavets, where fans will be able to put up in the best spa and resort hotels of Western Ukraine.

"EURO 2012" Department of Lviv City Council is the main coordinator of the working process between accommodation facilities and tourist operators. Current information about existing facilities and hospitality of Lviv region are posted on the official website of the Host city - www.uefaeuro2012.lviv.ua, which also offers the links to the website of the Fan Accommodation Agency www.accom2012.com and “Hamalia” Travel Company www.hotelsukraine.com.ua. Using the given resources, football fans can easily book the  accommodation for the Finals of the European Football Championship 2012 in Lviv.