The multiplier effect in tourism: limitations and possibilities

Abstract

Background. Under present conditions the crisis, which led to a powerful reduction in consumer demand, became the powerful factors of trends in socio-economic development of Ukraine. Despite the fact that Ukraine has significant tourism and recreation potential, has the proper prerequisites to become a tourist destination, in 2015 it was not included in the ranking of countries attractive for tourism, because the aggregated nature of tourism activity leads to the underestimation of its importance to the national economy. Comprehensive tourism product is inherently interdisciplinary and, consequently, able to act as a «locomotive» of economic development. It means that for the tourist activity the process of multiplication of the economic effect, which determines the positive dynamics of the implementation of a comprehensive tourist product, is characteristic.
The aim of the article is the analysis of methodical approaches to the assessment of the effect of tourism activities and the definition of existing methods of research of multiplication process of economic effect taking into account restrictions and opportunities of the calculation of indicators.
Materials and methods. The materials of the world tourism organization, world economic forum, Statistical office of the European community, the Organization of economic cooperation and development, State statistics service of Ukraine, Department of tourism and resorts of Ministry of economic development and trade of Ukraine became the data base of the study of the multiplier effect in tourism. For a substantiation of methodical approaches to the assessment of the effect of tourist activities it was used a systematic approach, economic and statistical methods that ensured the combination of qualitative and quantitative aspects of the study, and special methods – graphical, ratings, sampling observation and comparative analysis.
Results. The effect of tourism is generated in different links of the production chain: from creation to intersectoral implementation of a comprehensive tourist product, taking into consideration the fact that tourist services may be provided by business entities from any institutional units. There were considered the theoretical prerequisites and based the expediency of solving the problems of development of tourism as a component of the world market of goods and services. It is proved that the estimation of economic effect of tourism activities should be based on the definition of an index that characterizes the effectiveness of economic activity of subjects involved in the development and implementation of a comprehensive tourism product. It is defined the essence of the satellite accounts of tourism. It is summarized the scientific approaches to the calculation of the cumulative effect of tourism.
Conclusion. The diversity of types of economic activities related to tourism necessitates their ranking according to the degree of profitability and the importance of development intensification. The lack of standardized methods for the assessment of the multiplier effect of tourism limits the objective evaluation of its economic potential for the raising of the national economy and generates a need to develop economically substantiated strategies for its development. Further scientific research as to assessment of the impact of tourism should become the part of an interdisciplinary synthetic science «tourismology» in the format of which the management methods and the trajectory of tourism development must be determined taking account the range of its impact on the national economy. Assessment of tourism activity through the multiplier effect will allow us to determine the cumulative effect and provide a possibility of economically and spatially based development of infrastructural, social and institutional potentials of tourism.