Methodology for assessing the relative tourist attractiveness of the region

Abstract

Assessment of the tourist attractiveness of a territory is an important analytical area in terms of identifying opportunities for development of regional tourism, as one of the most significant and promising sectors of the economy. This can be the basis for development of appropriate strategic regional programs. The existing scientific discussion in this area has contributed to emergence of a number of methodological approaches that can be used in practice. However, their critical analysis revealed a number of provisions, the improvement of which will make it possible to obtain more objective and relevant results, reflecting the possibility of the destination becoming an object of attraction for tourists. Firstly, the lack of a clear distinction between the categories of “tourist potential”, which reflects the objective state of the resources of the territory, and “tourist attractiveness”, which includes the estimated component of available resources from the perspective of a consumer of tourist services. This leads to the fact that the principle of the subjectivity of the assessment is practically not implemented, thus the possibility of focusing on market demands is not fully used, which implies use of segmentation and positioning tools. Secondly, the results obtained using the methods offered by the scientific community are often distorted by the subjective perception of the researcher, which is associated with use of a large volume of expert assessments. Thirdly, from our point of view, the number of estimated variables, the number of which may approach 100, is not always justified. This, on the one hand, reduces the degree of influence of each of them on the result, and, therefore, the significance, and on the other hand, makes it difficult for the analyst to collect the necessary information. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to develop a methodology that eliminates these disadvantages. The offered author’s development includes objective indicators that do not require involvement of experts in their assessment. The number of these indicators is limited and systematized by groups, in accordance with modern market demands: directly attracting tourists, ensuring the quality of stay and ensuring the availability of the territory. The relative form of the offered metrics shows the degree of difference in the selected variables of some territories in comparison with others, which in the future will make it possible to orient the tourism development in the region to target audiences whose needs can be satisfied by the resources available at the destination.