International Tourism as a Tool of Public Diplomacy: New Opportunities of Strengthening Foreign Influence of Ukraine

Abstract

The article examines functional capabilities of international tourism to perform as a channel of «public diplomacy». The author defines the main factors, which in the terms of globalization, transform the world tourist flows into a foreign policy tool of influence. The article characterizes the dynamics of international tourist arrivals in the second half of the XX - early XXI century, which are represented as a global space of social networks and corresponding economic and geopolitical influences. The paper highlights basic approaches of «new public diplomacy» within which social institutions and processes (including tourism) are considered as independent subjects of international relations and important components of «soft power». The study reveals constructive role of tourism in shaping the global rating of «soft power» and the rating of national brands. It is claimed that there’s a direct correlation between tourist attraction and an opportunity to exert «soft» influence. The article grounds expediency of strengthening the promotion of national tourist product as an effective tool of public diplomacy in Ukraine. The author comes to the conclusion that in the terms of globalization tourism is gaining political weight as a factor in informal international contacts, additional tool to achieve foreign policy interests of the state and basic foundation of public diplomacy and diplomacy can be represented as an operational strategy for the development of national tourism.

Tourism Diplomacy: A Feasible Tool of Building Nation’s Image through Tourism Resources. A Study on Bangladesh

“…Due to globalization, international communication; political negotiation of countries worldwide are increasing. This negotiation will help to increase the international tourist receipts as the tourists will visit the destination country for a specific purpose will join in tourism-based activities (Parfinenko, 2016). Germann Molz (2010) identifies tourism as a political terrain of cultural exercise because it coordinates culture and public diplomacy.…”