Ukraine establishes a national UNESCO federation, and Ivan Liptuga takes the helm: tourism is confirmed as part of the country’s resilience in war
The establishment of a national UNESCO federation in Ukraine, according to the World Tourism Network announcement, represents a new institutional point in the attempt to connect culture, education, international cooperation, and tourism at a time when the country is already living under the pressure of war for the fourth year. Ivan Liptuga has been appointed to lead the new structure, one of the more recognizable names in the Ukrainian tourism and cultural sector, a man who during the past years has simultaneously been present in international tourism networks, in work on promoting Ukrainian destinations, and in activities related to heritage protection, especially in Odesa. The news itself goes beyond a personnel appointment: it opens the question of how the role of tourism changes in wartime circumstances and whether it can, instead of being exclusively an economic branch, become an instrument of cultural survival, diplomatic visibility, and long-term recovery.
Such a change in perspective is especially important for Ukraine, because there heritage, identity, and public space can no longer be viewed separately from the security reality. As of March 25, 2026, UNESCO had verified damage to 525 cultural sites in Ukraine, including religious buildings, historic and artistically valuable buildings, museums, monuments, libraries, archaeological sites, and archives. Behind that number stands not only a list of destruction, but also the fact that the country’s cultural landscape has become one of the fronts of the war. Within such a framework, every new institutional network dealing with UNESCO values acquires a much broader meaning than a usual administrative structure.
What a national UNESCO federation means and why it matters
According to explanations by UNESCO and the World Federation of UNESCO Clubs and Associations, UNESCO clubs, centers, and associations bring together volunteers, experts, educational institutions, and civil society acting in accordance with the organization’s ideals, and as a rule they develop under the umbrella of national commissions for UNESCO. This means that it is not a replacement for official state institutions, but a parallel network that on the ground can connect educational, cultural, local, and social actors. In the Ukrainian case, that very link gains additional weight: the country must simultaneously protect endangered heritage, maintain cultural life, prepare experts for recovery, and constantly explain to the international public why these processes matter.
Additional context is provided by an earlier global list of UNESCO clubs and associations, published through the WFUCA network, in which Ukraine was represented by several individual clubs, but without a clearly highlighted national federation. Therefore, the new structuring can be read as an institutional consolidation of previously scattered initiatives. In practice, this could mean better coordination of local projects, stronger linking of cities and organizations, easier involvement of young people and the expert public, and more effective presentation of Ukrainian priorities on the international stage. At a time when questions of preserving identity, recovering cultural assets, and social resilience are inseparable, such a step is not symbolic, but operationally important.
Who Ivan Liptuga is and why his selection is logical
In the international public, Ivan Liptuga is best known as the president of the National Tourism Organization of Ukraine and a long-standing representative of the Ukrainian tourism sector in international networks. The World Tourism Network lists him as an active member and a person who during the war became one of the faces of Ukrainian tourism and public advocacy. At the same time, several sources connect him with Odesa and work at the intersection of culture, international cooperation, European integration, and UNESCO heritage. The Ministry of Culture of Ukraine had previously also listed him as a member of the Ukrainian delegation at sessions of the World Heritage Committee, which shows that he is not merely a tourism manager, but a person operating at the intersection of cultural policy, local government, and international formats.
It is precisely this combination that is important for understanding his new appointment. Ukraine today does not need only promoters of travel, but people who understand that tourism in wartime circumstances is connected with the country’s reputation, the preservation of cities, cultural diplomacy, and economic preparation for recovery. Liptuga comes from Odesa, a city that has become one of the most recognizable examples of that connection. The historic center of Odesa was inscribed in 2023 on the UNESCO World Heritage List and at the same time on the List of World Heritage in Danger, precisely because of the immediate threats of destruction. In such a city, tourism is no longer only a matter of arrivals and overnight stays, but also a matter of the survival of urban identity.
Odesa, Lviv, and the wartime reality of cultural heritage
During 2025 and 2026, UNESCO repeatedly warned about damage to cultural heritage in Ukraine, and Odesa and Lviv became powerful symbols of that threat. For Odesa, UNESCO announced that, after repeated attacks and damage, it had intensified technical assistance, damage assessments, and expert support for risk management and the revision of the site management plan. This also includes cooperation with ICOMOS and assistance to national, regional, and local authorities. Lviv, meanwhile, once again came to the center of attention in March 2026 after an attack on the area of the Bernardine Monastery within the protected historic core of the city, during which UNESCO expressed deep concern and reminded parties of the obligations to protect cultural property under international conventions.
Such events show why in Ukraine cultural heritage can no longer be viewed only through a conservation logic. A destroyed or damaged church, theater, historic building, or urban ensemble is not only a loss for art historians or the local community, but also a blow to social memory, the urban economy, and the possibility that after the war life will return to a recognizable framework. Tourism, in that sense, is one of the first activities to feel the consequences of destruction, but also one of the first that can help the return of normality. When trust, infrastructure, and cultural content are restored, tourism itself often becomes the signal that a city is returning to itself and that it can once again function as an open public space.
Tourism as resilience, not only an industry
The war has fundamentally changed the way tourism is discussed in Ukraine. Before February 2022, the emphasis was on destination development, investments, transport connectivity, and the international positioning of the country. Today, the discussion is increasingly focused on the resilience of communities, the preservation of local crafts, the work of cultural institutions, the security of sites, and preparation for future recovery. In that sense, tourism becomes a link between the economy and culture. It maintains the visibility of places that would otherwise be reduced only to war news, creates reasons to invest in the recovery of spaces, and helps ensure that the identity of cities is not reduced to a list of destruction.
The United Nations and partner organizations have in recent years increasingly pointed precisely to that dimension. In September 2025, at a conference on the creative economy in Ukraine, UNDP highlighted tourism and craftsmanship as drivers of community recovery in wartime conditions. UNESCO, for its part, had earlier stated in its assessments that Ukraine would need almost nine billion dollars over ten years for the recovery of culture and tourism after the first two years of the war, while a more recent review of three years of action cites 4.11 billion dollars in direct damage and more than 29.3 billion dollars in lost revenues in culture and tourism. These figures show that the damage is not measured only in walls and roofs, but also in lost economic cycles, canceled events, fewer jobs, and the weakening of local ecosystems that depend on cultural life.
Therefore, appointing a person from the tourism sector to head the new national UNESCO federation is not necessarily a departure from the usual pattern, but can also be a very precise response to Ukrainian circumstances. In a country where culture, international aid, urban identity, and future development are inseparably linked, tourism imposes itself as a field that understands both the symbolic and the economic value of heritage. It is not sufficient on its own, but it can be a tool that connects institutions, local communities, international partners, and future investment in recovery.
International cooperation and cultural diplomacy in practice
The establishment of the federation also comes at a moment when Ukraine is seeking to expand international platforms of support for the cultural sector. In its reports, UNESCO highlighted emergency assistance for site protection, support for experts, the provision of equipment, training for documenting damage, and assistance to the creative sector. In addition, at the Ukraine Recovery Conference, the Culture Resilience Alliance was presented, conceived as a multilateral platform for coordinating heritage protection, integrating culture into recovery plans, and supporting the creative economy. In that context, the new national UNESCO federation can be viewed as an additional bridge between international initiatives and domestic implementation.
This is also important because international assistance by itself is not sufficient if there are no local networks able to monitor projects, bring experts together, and sustain community interest. The federation, if it comes to life at full capacity, can be a space where schools, associations, cultural institutions, local authorities, tourism organizations, and young professionals will meet. In peacetime circumstances, that would be a valuable social network. In wartime circumstances, it can also be an infrastructure of resilience, because it helps preserve continuity of work where institutional capacities are under constant pressure.
What this news means for Ukraine after the war
Although it is currently too early to assess how far-reaching the new federation will actually be, the message of its establishment itself is politically and socially clear. Ukraine does not accept that culture, heritage, and tourism should be treated as secondary topics that will only come onto the agenda after the war ends. On the contrary, the message is that mechanisms are being built right now that will preserve the country’s identity, help local communities, and prepare the conditions for recovery. In this, tourism has a different role from the one it had in the peacetime years: it is no longer only a market activity, but part of a broader story about how the country remains visible, connected, and recognizable despite destruction.
The selection of Ivan Liptuga further emphasizes that change. His professional path, from the tourism sector to work alongside UNESCO heritage and international forums, summarizes precisely the logic that today dominates the Ukrainian public space: heritage preservation, international cooperation, and economic preparation for recovery can no longer be conducted separately. If the new national UNESCO federation succeeds in bringing together existing initiatives, opening space for new projects, and connecting heritage protection with local development, then this news will not remain merely a formal note about an appointment, but a signal that Ukraine, even in the midst of war, is trying to build institutions for the time that is yet to come.
Sources:- UNESCO – official page on war-damaged cultural sites in Ukraine, with updated figures on verified damage (link)- UNESCO – overview of activities in Ukraine and emergency assistance for culture, education, media, and heritage (link)- UNESCO World Heritage Centre – official announcement on increased assistance to Odesa due to escalating damage to protected heritage (link)- UNESCO – official announcement on concern over strikes on the historic center of Lviv in March 2026 (link)- UNESCO / UNESCO World Heritage Centre – explanation of the role of UNESCO clubs, centers, and associations and their place within national systems (link)- WFUCA – World Federation of UNESCO Clubs and Associations, with a general overview of the network and its role (link)- Global list of UNESCO clubs and associations – document showing the earlier presence of individual UNESCO clubs in Ukraine (link)- World Tourism Network – profile of Ivan Liptuga and his role in the Ukrainian tourism sector (link)- World Tourism Network – information on Ivan Liptuga and his connection with Odesa, culture, and international cooperation (link)- Ministry of Culture of Ukraine – information on the Ukrainian delegation to UNESCO, which also mentions Ivan Liptuga (link)- UNESCO – assessment of damage in culture and tourism after two years of war, with earlier estimates of recovery costs (link)- UNESCO – overview of three years of action in Ukraine with the figure of 4.11 billion dollars in direct damage and more than 29.3 billion dollars in lost revenues in culture and tourism (link)- UNDP Ukraine – conference on tourism and craft production as drivers of the recovery of local communities in wartime conditions (link)
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