Convergence of the tourist services market

Abstract

Background. The restructuring of the national economy in favor of the service sector has led to the focus of the state policy on the tourism system, which largely determines the development of the country’s economy. In the context of the fast-paced nature of the demand for tourist services, one of the key places is the growing importance of convergence in the system of economic relations. This necessitates the theoretical substantiation of the conceptual principles of the theory of convergence and the study of the features of the convergence of the tourist services market.
Analysis of recent researchesand publications has shown that the concept of convergence takes place when less developed economic agents, including countries and regions, have higher rates of economic growth than are more developed, resulting in a long-term convergence of levels of economic development.
The aim of the article is to study the convergence of the tourist services market and to develop strategic guidelines for state policy aimed at forming a model of convergent tourism development in Ukraine.
Materials and methods. The scientific works of domestic and foreign scientists on the theory of convergence and tourism, as well as materials of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the World Tourism and Travel Council (WTTC) are theoretical and methodological basis of the article. In the course of the research, a set of scientific methods and approaches was used: systemic, analysis and synthesis, comparisons.
Results. The analysis of the main indicators of tourism development in the regions of the world has shown that in the African and Middle Eastern tourist regions, despite the low significance of the relevant indicators, growth is faster than in other more economically developed regions, which confirms the convergence of the tourist services market. The comparative characteristic of Ukraine with other countries of the world regarding the contribution of tourism to the formation of gross macroeconomic indicators testifies to the low level of efficiency of the functioning of domestic tourist enterprises and the lack of return on the use of tourist resources. This is confirmed by low ranking positions. Nevertheless, Ukraine has a leading position in terms of the growth rate of the respective indicators. The growth of the main economic indicators of tourism’s impact testifies to the positive trend of tourism development in Ukraine and confirms the convergence of the national tourist services market.
Conclusion. Identification of the convergent nature of the tourist services market will allow developing the methodological framework for strategic tourism development planning, which will further the recovery of this promising sector of the economy for Ukraine.