The success of the Chernobyl series boosts tourism in this Ukrainian city

The success of the miniseries

HBO

about the disaster in the Ukrainian city of Chernobyl,
where the worst nuclear accident in the world has occurred, has increased the number of tourists who want to know the power station and the ghost town that surrounds it last month.

A travel agency in Chernobyl has reported a 40% increase in the number of bookings since the creation of
Chernobyl
which will publish its last chapter on Friday. Visits in English usually cost around $ 100 per person.

In April, the 33rd anniversary of the disaster in the Soviet Socialist Republic at the time had been caused by the failure of a safety test in the fourth reactor of the nuclear plant that had sent clouds of nuclear material in much of Europe.

The mini-series created by Craig Mazin describes the consequences of the explosion, the extensive cleaning operation and the subsequent investigation into the causes of the accident.

The area around the mill still has the impression of a post-apocalyptic wasteland where stray dogs wander and vegetation invades windowless and abandoned buildings covered with rubble. In 1986, the explosion caused the release of radioactive material that affected several European countries

Sergiy Ivanchuk, director of travel agency SoloEast, told the Reuters news agency that the company had recorded a 30% increase in the number of tourist arrivals in May by compared to the same month in 2018. Reservations for June, July and August They have climbed by about 40% since the first of the series.

Yaroslav Yemelianenko, director of Chernobyl Tour, said expect a similar increase, between 30 and 40%, thanks to the miniseries. His company offers a tour of the places illustrated in the series, including the bunker where local officials made the initial decision not to evacuate after the blast.

Tourists board a bus in the center of Kiev and are transported 120 km from the city of Pripyat, where they can see the monuments of the victims and abandoned villages, as well as lunch in the only Chernobyl restaurant.

Eight years ago, during the commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the explosion, tourism was also developed in the city. "There is no danger of radiation but, in case, we would not come with shorts!", Then advised visitors to the Chernobyl exclusion zone, 150 km from Kiev .