With the EU closed to Ukrainian tourists, local beach and rural retreat hotels may enjoy another boom this summer.

Vodafone has reported that analytics of cell phone users showed a 30% yoy increase last summer at Ukrainian beach resorts. On the Azov, one hamlet, Bilosarayska Kosa, about 20 kilometers west of Mariupol, saw a 177% yoy increase. Last summer, while Kyiv hotels saw occupancy rates fall to 23%, seven countryside hotels reported revenue increases, reports the Ukrainian Hotel and Resort Association. More recently, during the December-January holidays, Carpathian mountain resort hotels enjoyed almost 100% occupancies, Artur Lupashko, founder of Ribas Hotels Group, told Interfax-Ukraine.