A memorandum on volunteer solidarity tourism.

During the war the tourism industry looked for ways to be useful to the country. One answer is volunteer solidarity tourism: a guest does not just visit but helps people affected by the war. They bring aid, rebuild damaged homes and support people who have lost their homes. Tourism like this restores both people and a damaged economy.

The working meeting of industry players took place at our space at 11 Andriivskyi Descent, with the support of USAID and coordinated by the Echo of Destruction initiative. It was organized by Valeriia Bondarenko and Olena Motuzenko. Several dozen people came: tour operators, among them Oleksii Tolkachov, the Department of Culture and Tourism of the Kyiv Regional State Administration, charitable foundations, state and military bodies. All of them declared their participation in the Memorandum on network cooperation to protect cultural heritage through solidarity and volunteer tourism.

There was no power and no connection, an air raid alert was announced, and the day before people had been warned of another massive strike. But they came. Our volunteer center provided the generator, and the Dronarium drone operator school provided Starlink. The participants thanked us for holding the meeting safely and for a reliable connection.

That same day a man came to us and said: "I have land, I am ready to give it to the community for free. Just bring russian vehicles onto it, because they are being carried off for scrap. Let it be a museum."