Smart Specialization in Tourism and Recreation: International
Challenges, National Guidelines, Regional Features
MARIANNA STEHNEI1, INNA IRTYSHCHEVA2, IRYNA KRAMARENKO2,
YEVHENIIA BOIKO2, IRYNA NADTOCHIY3, IHOR SIRENKO2, NATALIA HRYSHYNA2,
OLENA ISHCHENKO2, NATALIA TUBALTSEVA2, ORSHOIA NOD4
1Department of Еconomics and Finance, Mukachevo State University,
str. Uzhgorodskaya, 26, Mukachevo, 89600,
UKRAINE
2Department of Management, Admiral Makarov National University of Shipbuilding,
Heroes of Ukraine Prospect, 9 Mykolaiv, 54000,
UKRAINE
3Department of Еconomics, Kherson Branch,
Admiral Makarov National University of Shipbuilding,
Heroes of Ukraine Prospect, 9 Mykolaiv, 54000,
UKRAINE
4Vocational College of the Transcarpathian Hungarian Institute named after Ferenc Rakotsi II,
st. Lion No. 30, Berehove, 90202,
UKRAINE
Abstract: - The article reveals international challenges, national guidelines, and regional peculiarities of
SMART specialization in tourism and recreation. In the course of the research, we offer methodical approaches
to justify the SMART specialization of the region in the field of hospitality and recreation as a component of
the general model of strategic development of the regional economy and a key factor of competitiveness. The
authors determined that an effective tool for the strategic development of the region and the formation of
sustainable competitive advantages, which has proven its effectiveness in the practice of regional management
in the EU countries, is the definition of the critical SMART specializations of the region and the concentration
of efforts on their development—using the proposed methodological approaches. Zakarpattia tourism and
recreation spheres were tested for the conditions of adaptation of smart specialization. The calculations showed
that the sphere of tourism, recreation, and hospitality as a whole is an essential branch of the economy of the
Zakarpattia region and can develop based on SMART specialization. The key areas of tourism and recreation
development in the regions that correspond to modern world trends and are the most relevant given the current
military events are highlighted: green tourism, health resort, sports, rehabilitation, and inclusive tourism.
Key-Words: - smart specialization, tourism, resort and recreation sphere, rehabilitation and inclusive tourism,
methodical approaches
Received: November 21, 2022. Revised: March 26, 2023. Accepted: April 19, 2023. Published: May 11, 2023.
1 Introduction
A promising tool for ensuring innovative
investment development of tourism and recreation
in the region is the concept of SMART
specialization, which has shown its applied
effectiveness in EU countries. According to this
concept, several vital industries are selected at the
regional level, based on the use of unique regional
resources or experience and possessing a sufficient
level of innovation potential, focusing limited
financial resources on these competitive areas to
create competitive advantages that become the
main drivers of economic growth in the region.
"In 2010, the EU declared its vision for the
development of regions in particular and the
economy in general in the Europe 2020 strategy,
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the priorities of which were defined as smart
development based on knowledge and innovation;
sustainable development, which ensures more
efficient use of resources and competitiveness;
comprehensive development leading to an increase
in the level of employment of the economically
active population, social and territorial integrity. A
part of this strategy was the (national/regional)
research and innovation strategy for smart
specialization (RIS 3), which provides for an action
plan for economic transformation, coordination of
financial and entrepreneurial resources to support
selected types of economic activity, and definition
of management and monitoring mechanisms. In its
essence, it is a strategic approach to developing a
policy of maximizing the innovative potential of
the region, and identifying and stimulating unique
industries or types of economic activity, regardless
of the region's economic development. The
philosophy of SMART specialization is not so
much to stimulate innovation as to activate long-
term structural changes in the region's economy
and to form a policy enabling the region to occupy
its niche in global markets", [1].
Thus, SMART specialization is a new strategic
philosophy aimed at the competitive development
of territories, which, unlike the traditional approach
of "financial equalization" through subsidies and
other payments from the state budget to support
depressed territories, is focused on the development
of unique production and innovation ecosystems,
which are based on local resources and knowledge,
focusing efforts on supporting their organic
development, as a result of which they become
drivers of socio-economic development of the
region and the primary source of competitive
advantages.
The article aims to study the national guidelines
and regional features of the development of
SMART specialization in tourism and recreation in
the context of international challenges.
2 Problem Formulation
2.1 Literature Review
As experts of the Ukrainian Institute of
International Policy point out, "the concept of
SMART specialization (S3) can be used in all
regions, but its application should be treated with
caution since the economic and institutional context
differs significantly depending on the region. The
SMART specialization strategy should consider
geographical features to activate regional
development. Several provisions should be
considered when applying S3 in a regional context:
- the process of entrepreneurial opening will work
differently in each region;- when determining the
industries/sectors that can reach a critical mass, it is
necessary to take into account the "principles of
regional integration and contiguity, -
interconnection: SMART-specialization should
provide a combination between new industries or
industries in the process of development with
process participants outside the region, but this
practice does not always lead to good results. The
connection between regions is only profitable when
ideas are absorbed and applied to the benefit of
local enterprises - integration of policies at the local
level to increase the region's attractiveness; the
strategy should consider social, cultural, and
legislative aspects in addition to purely economic
considerations. Thus, a successful strategy should
include five policies formed taking into account the
demand factor, for example, public-private
partnership (PPP)", [2].
We agree with scientists Tulchynska and
Shashina, [3], that SMART specialization occupies
an important place in managing the strategic
development of Ukraine's regional socio-economic
and economic systems during the ongoing
decentralization reform and changes in the
administrative and territorial structure. The existing
legislative and regulatory framework, taking into
account international experience and technical
assistance, contains structured, methodical
approaches to assessing the state of implementing
measures to implement SMART specialization of
economic complexes at the regional level".
At the same time, today, there is no single
approach to selecting the SMART specialization of
industries, but only guidelines that allow
determining their prospects from the point of view
of the so-called innovative core of regional
economic development. One of the global
challenges to world tourism development was the
coronavirus pandemic infection, which is why
many authors determined the prospects for
development in the relevant conditions, [4], [5].
At the national level, the Russian war became
an obstacle to developing tourism and recreation in
Ukraine, [6]. Today, many scientists consider the
functioning of tourism and recreation in war and
post-war recovery, [7].
Accordingly, under such conditions, research is
needed into the digitalization of tourism and
recreation, [8], [9].
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2.2 Materials and Methods
By the amendments made to the “Procedure for
evaluating regional development projects that can
be implemented at the expense of state budget
funds received from the European Union”, the
following evaluation indicators of such projects or
industries are defined, which, among other things,
can be used as criteria when justifying SMART
specialization: - “the number of supported cluster
initiatives based on the principles of smart
specialization; - the number of supported economic
entities that introduce innovations in the most
promising branches of the regional economy; - the
number of innovative projects aimed at the
development of the regional and local economy; -
the number of industrial enterprises carrying out
scientific and scientific and technical
developments, about the total number of
enterprises; - the number of industrial enterprises
using scientific and scientific and technical
developments about the total number of
enterprises”, [10]. The critical criteria in assessing
industries are their innovative activity, the ability to
develop and implement innovations, and the
creation of innovative clusters and other structures.
Scientists Ishchuk S. O. Ishchuk and Sozansky L.
Y. distinguish the following criteria for SMART
specialization: innovativeness of certain types of
economic activity, efficiency (which is reflected by
the indicator of the profitability of operational
activity), level of payment and labor productivity,
[11]. Part of the scientific community suggests
using specialization coefficients to assess industries
from the perspective of SMART specialization.
“Specific indicators determine the specialization of
the state’s regions, although significant criterion
differences exist in the literature. The following
calculation indicators have become the most
widespread. In this way, the researched approaches
and methods of choosing regional industries to
implement SMART-specialization projects are
based on calculating regional specialization
coefficients and innovative development of
industries. The main reason the tourism sphere is
not considered a priority from the standpoint of
SMART specialization is the difficulty in assessing
its innovative potential. Different from the
industrial sector, innovations in the field of tourism
and recreation are not statistically recorded. The
innovative activity of enterprises in tourism and
hospitality is measured mainly by quality indicators
based on consumer surveys. Therefore, approaches
to studying and actualizing SMART specialization
of tourism in the region or selected regions are
necessary, considering the specifics of this
particular business. Considering the available
methodical approaches and the specifics of the
service sector, a methodical approach is proposed
to assess the relevance of SMART specialization in
tourism and recreation or its sectors. The proposed
approach involves the calculation of the following
indicators: 1) The specialization coefficient is the
ratio of the specific weight of the region’s industry
in the volume of output of the country’s industry to
the specific weight of the region's economy in the
country’s economy. The value of this indicator
above 1 indicates the industry’s importance for the
region’s economy. The coefficient of specialization
is calculated according to the formula:
(1)
Where,– the volume of production of products
(services) of the i-th industry in the region;
– Gross volumes of production (services) in the
region;
– Production volumes of the industry in the
country;
SQ – gross volumes of production (services) in the
country;
GRP – gross regional product;
GDP – gross domestic product.
2) The coefficient of social efficiency is a
comparative indicator reflecting the ratio of the
specific weight of employees in the industry in the
region to the specific weight of employees in the
industry at the country level. A value above 1
indicates that this industry is socially significant for
the region. The coefficient of social efficiency is
calculated according to the formula:
(2)
Where
is the number of employed workers in the
industry (including self-employed) in the region;
– is the total number of employed persons
(including the self-employed) in the region;
– number of employed workers in the industry
(including self-employed) in the country;
SP – the total number of employed persons
(including the self-employed) in the country.
3) Coefficient of budgetary efficiency – determines
the importance of taxes withheld from industry
enterprises for local and regional budgets.
(3)
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Where,
– Volumes of a tourist tax in the region;
– The total amount of tax revenues of the region;
– Volumes of a tourist tax in the country;
ST is the total amount of tax revenues of the
consolidated budget
4) The coefficient of economic efficiency –
determines the comparative profitability of the
industry in the region, which indirectly indicates
the conditions for the development of this business
in the region and its investment attractiveness:
(4)
Where is the profitability of the operational
activity of the enterprises of the industry in the
region;
– average operating profitability of the service
sector in the region;
– profitability of the operational activity of the
enterprises of the industry in the country;
SR is the average operating profitability of the
service sector in the country.
According to the proposed methodological
approach, the tourism industry can be the object of
development of SMART projects – specialization
in the region, if the results of the calculations
satisfy the condition:
(5)
Where n is the number of calculated coefficients,
therefore, the proposed methodical approach to
determining the relevance of SMART
specialization of tourism and hospitality in the
region is universal and can be applied to any
economic sector, as well as to calculate the
specialization of sectors at the level of territorial
communities.
Furthermore, the offered coefficients make it
possible to test the industry’s economic, budgetary,
and social significance level for the region and the
conditions for its development. Today, SMART
specialization is an essential tool for strategic
regional development planning. Therefore, every
socio-economic development strategy contains as a
mandatory element the region’s critical industries
selected according to this principle. Based on the
analysis of the regional development strategies of
the Carpathian economic region, tourism, and
recreation in one form or another were reflected in
the strategic regional priorities based on SMART
specialization, except for the Zakarpattia region.
3 Problem Solution
The Zakarpattia region is Ukraine’s strategically
important cultural, political, and economic region.
Having a unique border location and the
neighborhood of four countries of the European
Union, the region can become the most prominent
tourist, recreation, and resort region of Western
Ukraine. The natural and resource potential,
historical and cultural heritage, and extensive
achievements in tourism and recreation contribute
to determining the priority of the tourism industry,
health, sanatorium treatment, and recreation of
Ukrainian and foreign tourists in the territory of
Zakarpattia. The health, recreational, and tourist
facilities network in Zakarpattia Oblast includes
511 facilities, 23 health facilities, 126 recreational
facilities, and 362 tourist facilities. About 26,000
people, almost 600 rural estates ready to provide
tourist services, and 25 tourist information centers
can be accommodated in the region
simultaneously”, [12].
Zakarpattia currently has significant potential
for the development of internal and external
tourism. Also, it plays a significant role in ensuring
the socio-economic development of the region,
especially territorial communities in mountain
settlements. The allocation of tourism and
recreation as one of the branches of SMART
specialization of the region and the activation of
works in this direction contributed to the innovative
development of tourism technologies and products,
the development of innovative services, and the
productive use of the rich natural and cultural
potential of the Carpathians. At the same time,
according to most researchers, the available
potential has yet to be fully used. To determine the
relevance of tourism and recreation as one of the
SMART specializations of Zakarpattia, it is worth
investigating its economic, social, and budget-
forming potential, as well as compliance with the
primary conditions proposed for such industries in
the EU:
- Possession of critical resources, skills, and a
positive image in the field of tourism and
recreation;
- Potential ability to diversify tourism products and
technologies and establish close inter-industry
relations in the region;
- An essential role in the region's economy and
individual united territorial communities, a source
of budget revenues;
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- The possibility of activating the multiplier effect
in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
Zakarpattia has a wide variety of tourist and
recreational resources: forest, mineral, landscape,
water, and hydrological objects of the Carpathian
historical-cultural and natural reserve fund. "The
largest share among the components of the
recreational potential of Zakarpattia (39%) belongs
to water resources. However, the unique sources of
mineral waters are of particular value, which could
become, with a better and coordinated organization
of the resort business, a source of enrichment of the
region and improvement of the population. To date,
360 sources of mineral water have been explored.
Zakarpattia is home to many well-known types of
water, some of which are rare and unique in their
effects on the human body. These are waters
without specific components, carbon dioxide,
sulfide, siliceous thermal, iodobromine, iron, and
arsenic. Balneological resorts of the region, known
outside of Ukraine, are concentrated based on large
deposits of mineral waters", [13].
The localization of natural resources, as well as
the basis for the development of the field of
sanatorium-resort treatment, is an essential factor in
the industry specialization of tourism and
recreation in Zakarpattia. According to the Main
Department of Statistics data in Zakarpattia Oblast,
in 2018, 41 sanatorium-type facilities operated in
the Oblast. The decrease in the number of such
institutions compared to the 2000s is due to
reorganization, privatization, and repurposing of
individual institutions in the context of adaptation
to market conditions, as well as bankruptcy due to a
decrease in the volume of government orders.
for relevant services.
Table 1. Sanatorium-resort and health facilities of Zakarpattia
period
Sanatoriums and
boarding houses with
treatment
Sanatoriums-
prophylaxis
Rest houses and
boarding houses
Bases and other
recreation facilities
everythin
g
they have
beds,
thousand
everythin
g
they
have
beds,
thousa
nd
everythin
g
they
have
beds,
thousan
d
everythin
g
they have
beds,
thousand
2010
19
3,9
7
0,4
1
0,1
29
1,8
2011
20
4,2
7
0,4
1
0,1
27
1,6
2012
22
4,6
4
0,3
5
0,1
26
1,7
2013
22
5,1
4
0,3
4
0,3
26
1,6
2014
22
5,3
4
0,3
5
0,3
27
1,9
2015
21
5,3
2
0,2
4
0,2
28
1,8
2016
19
4,0
–
–
4
0,2
22
1,0
2017
19
3,9
–
–
4
0,2
19
1,0
2018
20
4,8
21
1,9
Source: [14]
These tables (Table 1 and Table 2) indicate a
significant potential for developing sanatorium-
resort treatment, provided that the state approach to
reforming the industry is adopted. An important
area of tourism in Zakarpattia is the opportunity to
provide the necessary services for the health and
recreation of children in the summer (Table 2).
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Table 2. Children's health and recreation facilities that worked in the summer in Zakarpattia Oblast
period
Number of establishments,
units
They have places, units
The number of children who were
in institutions, persons
everything
in particular, health
facilities
everything
in particular,
health facilities
everything
in particular, health
facilities
2011
569
15
5594
1478
79403
3693
2012
575
12
3855
1080
81164
3434
2013
611
27
5368
3007
95933
6451
2014
321
18
4926
2458
45576
7849
2015
333
15
4264
1581
45175
3136
2016
135
10
3158
1208
22239
2695
2017
175
10
2731
1205
27929
3329
2018
145
12
2982
1482
25811
4842
2019
196
10
2769
1109
26908
3218
Source: [14]
Because there is currently a war in Ukraine, which
will have terrible consequences, including for the
population's health, rehabilitation, and inclusive
tourism should become an important direction for
developing tourism and recreation in the region.
After the victory, many people who received
physical and moral injuries will need treatment and
rehabilitation. The availability of basic facilities for
sanatorium-resort treatment and the healing nature
of the Carpathians create prerequisites for the
development of rehabilitation and inclusive
tourism. As [15], notes, "Prospects for the
development of inclusive tourism in Ukraine are
focused on the effective organization of inclusive
tourism, which is a component of the inclusive
growth of the tourism economy of all
administrative units and the development of society
as a whole, it is a multifactorial and multilevel
process, the basis of which is the economy
maximum employment and interaction of all
subjects. Moreover, the application of the
experience of the synergy of progressive European
models of unity, regional development, and
innovation with the social model of the EU in the
direction of the development of inclusive tourism in
Ukraine is aimed at achieving the main final result -
expanding rights and opportunities, protecting and
ensuring the safety of citizens and regions, ensuring
sustainable development".
According to the requirements adopted by ETAN,
inclusive tourism should include the following:
"barrier-free destinations: infrastructure and
buildings;
transport: air, land, and sea, suitable for all users;
the high quality of services: achieved by trained
personnel;
entertainment, exhibitions, attractions: allows
everyone to participate in events;
marketing, reservation systems, websites, and
services: information is available to everyone",
[16].
The organization of inclusive tourism requires
the creation and adaptation of tourist infrastructure,
the organization of the provision of appropriate
tourist services, and the training of specialists who
can work with this category of citizens. That is, the
formation of the inclusive tourism industry requires
significant investments.
In this regard, we consider it an urgent task to
create a "Program for the Development of Inclusive
Tourism in Zakarpattia" at the regional level, which
will create the foundations for attracting state funds
for the development of the corresponding
infrastructure, the creation of public-private
partnership projects, and international cooperation.
The priority of the development of inclusion in the
EU will allow for attracting additional financial
resources for implementing this direction of
tourism, grant funds within the framework of
European programs, etc. Given the potential
volume of demand, this direction is also promising
from an economic point of view; it opens up
opportunities for state financing of travel for
specific categories of citizens. The critical tool for
implementing the strategy of SMART
specialization at the territorial and regional level
clusters, which should function based on
unification and exchange of experience, rational
and joint use of resources, the attraction of
alternative sources of financing, training of
personnel, which contributes to the development
and success of the business, increases its
productivity and profitability and creates new jobs
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for the population of the community. In a cluster
environment, conditions are created to stimulate
innovation and the spread of start-ups that expand
and develop existing strengths in the region and
support their development to help them become
world leaders by specializing and collaborating
with other stakeholders. Zakarpattia is currently
one of the most promising regions from the point of
view of creating tourist clusters. In particular,
investors plan to build about seven ski resorts
within the tourist cluster in Borzhavsky Polony. In
this cluster in the Carpathians, the first gondola lift
in Ukraine will be created - tourists will be taken to
the mountains by a 4 km long lift.
The implementation of the project is planned
for the spring of 2023 and will contribute to the
social and economic development of the territories.
In addition, creating a powerful tourist cluster in
Zakarpattia will create a synergistic effect for the
green development of other sectors of the region's
economy: transport infrastructure, entertainment,
and the development of green tourism and services.
The design and construction of modern resorts are
based on innovative technologies that ensure
resource savings, circular use of water, alternative
energy, etc.
Creating a tourist cluster in Zakarpattia will
also contribute to developing communication
infrastructure. In particular, a modern, powerful ski
resort requires increasing digitization and
digitization. During the construction of the resort, it
is planned to install base stations for mobile
communication and the Internet. Thus, the tourism
industry is one of the drivers of innovative changes
and also creates opportunities for inter-industry
cooperation and the development of a
multiplicative inter-industry effect, particularly in
rural and mountainous areas.
Today, in Zakarpattia, "the field of green
tourism, including rural, ecotourism and agrarian
tourism, as well as the provision of the traditional,
authentic tourist products and services, is being
motivated to expand, as almost every settlement,
especially in rural areas, has its traditional festivals:
red and white wines, the festival of butchers,
"Berlibash banish", festival of cabbage rolls,
regional folklore festival "Trembites are calling to
Synevyr", "Dobron paprika", holiday "Lead the
flock to the pasture", "Hutsul cheese", "Making
lekvar", wine festival " Zakarpattia Beaujolais" and
several other holiday festivals", [17].
The development of green tourism is most
widespread in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, where
306 eco-homesteads are officially registered as of
2020. In Zakarpattia, only eight individual
entrepreneurs are registered as a subject of "green
tourism". The problem of this industry for the
region is that most business entities operate within
the shadow economy framework, do not pay taxes
to local budgets, and do not appear in official
statistics. The development of this industry requires
the improvement of state mechanisms for
supporting small businesses and incentives for
entrepreneurs for their official registration.
The Zakarpattia region has all the conditions
for the development of sports, in particular,
extreme tourism, which has recently been gaining
more and more popularity. This type of tourism is
ecologically oriented and will contribute to
sustainable development, as natural landscapes,
rivers, and other natural objects are used to provide
services. In the Zakarpattia region, extreme
recreation events are held yearly, including various
competitions. Festivals for the use of extreme
competitions take place on the territory of the cities
of Mukachevo, Uzhgorod, the area of the "Karpaty"
and "Synyak" sanatoriums, on the territory of the
Mukachevo and Nevytskyi castles, as well as on the
Tisza River, on Mount Stoy and Hoverla. In
Zakarpattia Oblast, the most developed types of
extreme tourism are: - "alpinism (climbing) and
mountain hiking tourism; - speleology; - skiing,
including snowboarding; - rafting (rafting on
mountain rivers); - paragliding and hang-gliding",
[18].
Therefore, the development of sports tourism
can become one of the directions of diversification
of the tourist product of the region, which is based
on natural competitive advantages and will
contribute to the growth of internal and external
tourist flows. In 2019, Zakarpattia "took 17th place
in terms of the number of tourist vouchers sold and
12th in income from the provision of tourist
services. Trips of tourists-citizens of Ukraine
within the state covered about 6,258 people. The
most popular purpose of tourist and excursion trips
remains leisure and recreation. In 2019, 25,165
people traveled. As for Ukraine, most domestic
tourists went to Turkey, Egypt, the UAE, Greece,
Bulgaria, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Montenegro,
Hungary, and the Czech Republic on tourist
permits", [19].
Tourism also plays a vital role in ensuring the
socio-economic development of the region, in
particular of individual territorial communities. In
2019, hospitality enterprises in Zakarpattia
provided services worth UAH 246,100 thousand,
which is 8% higher than the previous year.
However, the pandemic had its impact, and in 2020
the number of services provided was reduced by an
WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on ENVIRONMENT and DEVELOPMENT
DOI: 10.37394/232015.2023.19.41
Marianna Stehnei, Inna Irtyshcheva,
Iryna Kramarenko, Yevheniia Boiko,
Iryna Nadtochiy, Ihor Sirenko,
Natalia Hryshyna, Olena Ishchenko,
Natalia Tubaltseva, Orshoia Nod
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average of 25%. At the same time, the industry has
shown positive growth trends in recent years. The
downside is that corporate profits are growing
faster than investments. In particular, during the
analyzed period, the profit received in the industry
increased by 93%, and the volume of investments
decreased by 46%. Despite the multidirectional
trends, the indexes generally show positive growth
in most periods. At the same time, the industry is
unstable and depends on the general economic
situation in the country. We agree with the opinion
of scientists that "Important factors of
competitiveness and stable economic growth of
enterprises in the field of hospitality in Zakarpattia
are the development of related types of economic
activity (logistics, transportation, medical care,
banking sector, trade) and the development of
transport infrastructure", [21].
The tourist tax is a significant part of the budget
revenues of territorial communities of the region. In
particular, according to the data of the DPS in
Zakarpattia in 2021, 11.7 million UAH of tourist
tax was collected in Zakarpattia, which is 83%
more than in 2020, and 37% more than the "pre-
pandemic" indicator of 2019. "During eight months
of 2022, almost 13 million 449 thousand UAH of
tourist tax was paid to the local budget of the
Zakarpattia region. Compared to last year's period,
receipts increased by 94.5%", [22].
In 2021, Zakarpattia became one of the five
leaders in terms of tourist tax among the regions of
Ukraine after the city of Kyiv (68 million
hryvnias), the Odesa region (26.8 million hryvnias),
and the Lviv region (23 million hryvnias).
Thus, the tourism and recreation industry of
Zakarpattia meets the following critical criteria for
selecting the priorities of CMART specialization:
1) Zakarpattia has critical resources, skills, and a
positive image in the field of tourism and
recreation;
2) Potential ability to diversify tourist products and
technologies, establish close cross-industry
relations with the sphere of trade, hospitality, and
entertainment industry, agriculture, and forestry of
the region;
3) An essential role in the structure of the economy
of the region and individual united territorial
communities, a source of budget revenues;
4) The possibility of activating the multiplier effect
in achieving Sustainable Development Goals.
Table 3. Input data for testing the relevance of including the tourism and recreation industry in SMART
specialization projects of Zakarpattia for 2021
Indicators
Industry
indicators in the
region (i)
Indicators of the
region (r)
Industry
indicators in the
country (Si)
Indicators as a
whole for the
country (S)
Volumes of services
provided, thousand UAH.
107945,3
2880477,2
10605630,3
340471143
Tourist tax, million/ tax
revenue
11,8
655,70
244
14538,1
The number of employed
persons
5642
115858
301310
9056059
Operating profitability, %
3,3
2,3
16,1
14,9
Source: [20], [23], [24]
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DOI: 10.37394/232015.2023.19.41
Marianna Stehnei, Inna Irtyshcheva,
Iryna Kramarenko, Yevheniia Boiko,
Iryna Nadtochiy, Ihor Sirenko,
Natalia Hryshyna, Olena Ishchenko,
Natalia Tubaltseva, Orshoia Nod
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Based on the proposed methodical approaches, the
field of tourism and recreation in Zakarpattia was
tested. Given the form of statistical reporting,
where there are no indicators of tourist enterprises'
economic and social development, KVED I
"Temporary accommodation and catering
organization" and KVED R "Art, sports,
entertainment, and recreation" were chosen as the
object for calculations. These areas are the basis of
the tourist and recreational complex of the region
and directly form the basis for the development of
"incoming" tourist flows. The coefficients of
SMART specialization in hospitality in Zakarpattia
were calculated by substituting the table data (see
Table 3) into formulas (1.-4.). The obtained
indicators are shown in Fig. 1.
Fig. 1: Coefficients of SMART specialization in the field of tourism, hospitality, and recreation in Zakarpattia
Source: calculated by the authors
The calculations showed that the sphere of tourism,
recreation, and hospitality is an essential branch of
the region's economic development. All calculated
coefficients (except for the specialization
coefficient, which is also within acceptable limits)
are above 1, which indicates the presence of
industry advantages at the regional level. The
highest is the coefficient of social efficiency, which
emphasizes the importance of this sphere in
creating jobs and forming the income of the
region's population. Therefore, implementing the
SMART model of specialization of tourism and
recreation in Zakarpattia Oblast requires an in-
depth study of the future direction of tourism
activity and the formation of appropriate strategic
models of territorial development coordinated with
other branches of the region's economy.
The main barriers to implementing SMART
specialization in the region's tourism and recreation
field are primarily the low investment and
innovation support level. Investment processes in
tourism are carried out chaotically and
unsystematically and depend primarily on the own
vision of individual investors. As a result, the
volumes of investment investments are
insignificant and, despite the increase in
profitability, are decreasing in dynamics.
Moreover, at the regional level, investment and
innovation projects are supported only by
declarative statements.
0,8
1,5
1,1
1,3 0,0
0,5
1,0
1,5
Coefficient of
specialization
Coefficient of social
efficiency
Coefficient of budgetary
benefit
Coefficient of economic
efficiency
Coefficients of SMART-specialization in the field of hospitality in Zakarpattia
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DOI: 10.37394/232015.2023.19.41
Marianna Stehnei, Inna Irtyshcheva,
Iryna Kramarenko, Yevheniia Boiko,
Iryna Nadtochiy, Ihor Sirenko,
Natalia Hryshyna, Olena Ishchenko,
Natalia Tubaltseva, Orshoia Nod
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Therefore, the main task of developing the tourism
and recreation industry based on SMART
specialization is:
- selection of the most priority tourist destinations
around which the strategy will focus (for example,
inclusive, rural, health-rehabilitation, sports
tourism);
- the formation of an investment-attractive
environment, which involves, first of all,
mechanisms of regional guarantee of investment
investments, simplified procedures for the
allocation of land plots for the construction of
tourist facilities (especially those that have
significant social and ecological significance), the
implementation of public-private partnership
mechanisms;
- holding organizational events that will contribute
to the integration of business, regional authorities,
territorial communities, and scientific circles
around the formation of the strategy and its
implementation;
- activation of cooperation within the framework of
cross-border cooperation and search for
opportunities for technology transfer;
- development of mechanisms and criteria for state
investment and regional orders, which will
stimulate the inflow of private and foreign
investments;
- stimulation of innovative activity in the industry,
development, and implementation of startup
projects, etc.;
- development of clear and transparent mechanisms
and criteria for monitoring, control, and regulation
of project development, in particular in the areas of
compliance with human security conditions (safety
of life and health, security of personal data,
criminogenic, financial security, etc.), the
efficiency of use of natural resources, budgetary
funds, cultural and other assets of society and
communities.
The role of digitization today is considered the
primary task of recovery for Ukraine in the
conditions of war and significant hostilities in most
of the territory, [25], [27], [29]. Furthermore, the
impact of globalization and inclusive economic
development on countries with a developed market
economy, and the possibility of using their
experience for Ukraine, plays a significant role in
forming a strategy for developing the resort and
recreation sphere, [26], [28], [30].
4 Conclusion
Methodical approaches for substantiating SMART
specialization of the region in hospitality and
recreation as a component of the general model of
strategic development of the regional economy and
a key factor of competitiveness are proposed. It is
emphasized that an effective tool for the strategic
development of the region and the formation of
sustainable competitive advantages, which has
proven its effectiveness in the practice of regional
management in the EU countries, is the definition
of the vital SMART specializations of the region
and the concentration of efforts on their
development. Therefore, to adapt the
methodological approaches used at the stage of
identifying and substantiating the priority areas of
SMART specialization to the specifics of the
service sector and the tourism and recreation
industry, in particular, methodological approaches
are proposed that involve the calculation of several
coefficients (the coefficient of specialization, the
coefficient of social efficiency, the coefficients of
budgetary and economic efficiency).
The proposed coefficients allow testing the
level of the industry's economic, budgetary, and
social significance for the region and the conditions
for its competitive development. In the research
process, it was established that despite significant
tourism and recreation potential, experience, and
achieved competitive positions, the tourism and
recreation industry needs to be included in the
SMART priorities of the Zakarpattia region.
The Zakarpattia tourism and recreation field
was tested using the proposed methodical
approaches. The calculations showed that the
sphere of tourism, recreation, and hospitality as a
whole is an essential branch of the economy of the
Zakarpattia region and can develop based on
SMART specialization. All calculated coefficients
(except for the specialization coefficient, which is
also within acceptable limits) are above 1, which
indicates the presence of industry advantages at the
regional level. Furthermore, the region's critical
tourism and recreation development directions are
highlighted, which correspond to modern world
trends. Given current military events, they are the
most relevant: green tourism, health resort, sports,
rehabilitation, and inclusive tourism.
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DOI: 10.37394/232015.2023.19.41
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Iryna Kramarenko, Yevheniia Boiko,
Iryna Nadtochiy, Ihor Sirenko,
Natalia Hryshyna, Olena Ishchenko,
Natalia Tubaltseva, Orshoia Nod
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Contribution of Individual Authors to the
Creation of a Scientific Article (Ghostwriting
Policy)
The authors equally contributed to the present
research, at all stages from the formulation of the
problem to the final findings and solution.
Sources of Funding for Research Presented in a
Scientific Article or Scientific Article Itself
No funding was received for conducting this study.
Conflict of Interest
The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.
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