The City of Kyiv held a special press conference today in the 2017 Eurovision host city Kyiv in order to shed more light on the ongoing preparations for the forthcoming 2017 Eurovision Song Contest.

Kyiv’s Deputy Mayor Mr. Alexei Resnikov gave a press conference in Kyiv earlier today in order to brief the local media about the latest updates on the preparations of the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest.

Kyiv will welcome thousands of  Eurovision fans, journalists and delegations from 42 countries next May when the  Eurovision bandwagon arrives in town. Mr. Resnikov expects 20,000 tourists to visit the Ukrainian capital during the Eurovision period.

The City of Kyiv expects 1.3 million tourists to visit the city throughout 2017, thus attracting both national and international visitors.

Mr. Alexey Reznikov says:

According to our guidelines, we are expecting up to 20,000 visitors to come to Kyiv during the span of the 2 Eurovision weeks. Of course not everyone will be in Kyiv for the full 2 weeks. During 2017 we expect more than 1.3 million tourists to visit Kyiv.

Mr. Resnikov went on to mention that during the Eurovision period an average visitor to the city is expected to spend at least 100 Euros per day.

Mr. Resnikov adds:

This won’t consist of the direct revenues that amount up for the city budget but the money that will be spent in the different establishments throughout the city, out of which the respective businesses will contribute to the city budget by paying their taxes. About 20 million Euros will be earned by Kyiv entrepreneurs during the Eurovision period.

Preparations in Kyiv for the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest are in full swing, whilst the city is currently working on all the requirements and aspects of organizing such a massive event. The City of Kyiv officials have meetings lined up in the coming days where more details regarding the contest will be finalised.

The City of Kyiv will be holding a meeting with the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest Organizing Committee by the end of this week, where the action plan and the preparation schedule for the upcoming contest will be reviewed and approved. Hereafter it will be officially presented and made public.

The Eurovision Village’s potential location is Khreshchatyk (the area running from Bohdan Khmelnytsky Street to the Gorodetsky Street) whilst the pontential location for the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest Opening Ceremony is The Mariinsky Park (same location where the 2005 Eurovision Opening Reception was held).

Mr. Resnikov went on to say that all the official Eurovision locations and hotspots are exclusively selected and determined by NTU and the EBU.  The City of Kyiv ( partner of the competition) will be responsible for organizing the area around the main locations ie. the Eurovision venue IEC etc.

The City of Kyiv will also be responsible for providing transportfor Eurovision guests, delegations, artists and accredited media and fans , road maintenance, infrastructure issues etc.

Kyiv will do its utmost best to see that the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest is held in Ukraine in the best possible way, thus the city will work round the clock in order to showcase an excellent and extraordinary show come May.

The 2017 Eurovision Song Contest is scheduled to be held on 9, 11 and 13 May at the International Exhibition Centre in Kyiv, Ukraine.