Sustainable Development of the Industrial Region based on Competitive

Advantages Related to Unique Resources: Tourism Aspect

OLENA BILOVODSKA1, SOFIA KOMARYNETS2, NATALIA MYKHALCHYSHYN2,

IRYNA KANTSIR2, OLENA TREVOGO2, OKSANA HOSHOVSKA2

1Department of International Economics and Marketing,

Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv,

Kyiv,

UKRAINE

2Department of Theoretical and Applied Economics,

Lviv Polytechnic National University,

Lviv,

UKRAINE

Abstract: - The academic paper aims to explore the possibility of industrial region development reorienting

based on alternative terms using unique resources. The primary purposes of the study are to analyse the

availability, status, and level of competition and competitive advantages in the market of unique resources. The

main methods applied in the article are analysis and, in particular, SWOT analysis, comparison, and

generalisation, which have been used to achieve the aim and primary purposes outlined. The study's main

findings confirm that the industrial region's essential unique resources could be multifaceted tourist resources,

particularly geographical location, favourable climate, historical or other attractiveness, environmental

friendliness, safety, and more. Based on the concept of the national diamond of M. Porter, possible unique

tourist resources, which are the development factors of the market of tourist services in a typical industrial

region, have been identified. Based on the concept of driving forces, favourable factors influencing the

development of the region's market of tourist services in the postwar period, such as shifting consumer

preferences, innovation promotion technics, etc., have been established in the study. The results of the study

suggest that unique resources belonging to the strengths of the industrial region in combination with other

strengths can reinforce regional development opportunities and reduce the weaknesses.

Key-Words: - Sustainable development, industrial region, competitive advantages, unique resources, tourism,

strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats

Received: August 11, 2022. Revised: March 26, 2023. Accepted: April 18, 2023. Published: May 22, 2023.

1 Introduction

Problems of the state and region sustainable

development taking into account the possibilities of

restoring the environment and ensuring the current

and future safe existence of society, the ability to

meet the needs of its members are especially

relevant for industrial regions. The development of

the industry has influenced such problems. Usually,

they involve using outdated, energy-intensive

equipment and technologies that do not meet the

standards of efficiency and environmental

friendliness and do not provide a high level of

reproduction of the environment, particularly in

Ukraine. When vital production capacity collapses

for countries under war conditions, the future

resuming industrial production under stable

conditions or changing the direction of development

matters. Resuming has to be based on available

unique resources due to the principles of sustainable

development. Therefore, the possible achievements

will be focused on lowering the essential production

resource consumption and a higher level of

profitability, investment attractiveness,

environmental friendliness, etc. The academic paper

explores the possibility of industrial region

development reorienting based on alternative terms

using unique resources. The resource supply

analysis, level of competition, and competitive

market advantages provide an understanding of the

developing alternative opportunities of the industrial

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region with unique resources. Multifaceted tourist

resources are one of the unique and primary ones for

the industrial region. Here we discuss the

geographical location, suitable climate, historical

and other attractiveness, environmental

sustainability, safety, etc.

2 Literature Review

Numerous scientific achievements of political,

economic, and social figures and scientists are

devoted to studying sustainable development's

impact on the state and the region's economy. In

particular, the term "sustainable development" was

used in 1987 at the United Nations Conference on

Environment and Development in Geneva to

understand the development of a society that meets

the needs of consumers without harming future

generations. [1], noted in the report that sustainable

development reduces the harmful effects of natural

resource depletion and environmental pollution for

the safety and well-being of future generations. [2]

examined the organisation's sustainability and

argued that this characteristic means its ability to

function in states far from equilibrium under various

internal and external environmental factors. In [3],

the author defined stability in static and dynamic

forms. In [4], the author studied the national

economic stability based on the safe operation and

the ability to stabilise problems and development

simultaneously. In general, sustainability can be

considered as the object's ability (organisation,

region, state) to be in an equilibrium state under the

influence of internal and external factors. However,

sustainability can relate to stability and change,

particularly regarding sustainable development and

increasing results. In this context, [5], investigated

the processes of Ukraine's regional economic

integration. According to, [6], only sustainable

development conditions are optimal economic

development, full employment, growth of a

population's standard of living based on rational use

of natural resources, and observance of provided

ecological restrictions. [7], studied the ecological

basis of sustainable development and believed that

the elements of the Earth carry out material and

energy exchange leading to stability and balance

changes.

In the study, [8], the author identified the

essence of competitive advantage. He developed a

model of the five forces of competition that

structure the industry in a system of indicators

(competitive diamond), which determines the

reasons for the success of countries in the industry

competition. He found that different ways are used

to achieve the company's goals. However,

companies use consistent, effective strategies, cost

minimisation, differentiation, and concentration to

build market leadership, [8]. [9], revealed the

influence of disintegration processes on the

sustainable development of regional trade

agreements as the main competitive advantage, [9].

According to, [10], the main factors of competitive

advantage are intellectual leadership and the

combination of unique internal resources of

companies. Scientists have proposed a theory of key

competencies: skills, abilities, technologies,

information, reputation, and relationships within the

company's internal divisions. The uniqueness of the

theory is in the competencies' combination that

allows entities to create new goods and develop

unique strategies that will ensure the achievement of

industry competitive advantages and access to new

markets, [10]. Modern improved theories of

competitive advantage focus on creating new

markets: K. Christensen's theory of disruptive

innovation (the study of new technologies and

product impact on the company's activities); R.

Carter's theory of "digital" and "electronic"

corporate culture (the entity's ability to quickly

adapt to possible changes in the market and

eliminate errors in real-time); "Strategy of the Blue

Ocean", [11], (creation of new markets and market

niches based on the introduction of innovative

developments as opposed to resources in traditional

markets competition, [11].

Competitive advantages related to unique

resources in the tourist products market consider

three aspects: product (compliance with the tourist

product market expectations and needs of tourists),

industry (competitiveness of entities), and territory

(tourist attractiveness of territory with tourist assets

localisation, natural resources, labour resources,

capital), [12], [13], [14]. Among the main factors

that create competitive advantages based on quality,

price, and specialisation in the local market, [15],

additionally include physical, information,

scientific, technological infrastructure, and legal

framework, [15].

3 Materials and Methods

To study the possibilities of industrial region

sustainable development based on unique resources,

their availability, condition, level of competition,

and competitive advantages in the market are

analysed. The mutual exchange of resources to solve

international problems, including environmental

ones, and the impact of external economic

environment instability on organisational flexibility,

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are investigated in the previous authors' research,

[16], [17]. So, the "typical industrial region" concept

is also defined, which unites the industrial regions

of countries with administrative-command

experiences, such as Ukraine, Uzbekistan,

Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. Distinctive features of a

typical industrial region in these counties are the

common problems of industrial regions'

development. Possible unique tourist resources have

been identified based on the market of tourist

services development in a typical industrial region.

The dynamics of entities in the tourist services

market and tourist flows and the dynamics of tourist

flow distribution by entities and travel purposes are

studied. We performed a SWOT analysis of tourism

and key interrelated industries in the region

associated with unique resources to assess the

competition and competitive advantages in the

regional market of tourist services. As a result, a

matrix of competitive advantages and

disadvantages, strengths and weaknesses of the

tourist industry of the industrial region, is built. We

obtained and analysed the tourist services market

analysis data from the official websites of the State

Statistics Service of Ukraine, [18], and the Regional

State Service of Statistics of Ukraine, [19]. The data

for assessing the level of competition and

competitive advantages in the tourist services

market of a typical industrial region and for the

analysis of unique resources were obtained from the

official websites of the Government of Ukraine,

[20], regional state administrations, [21], city

councils, and district headquarters, [22].

4 Results

An industrial region is a geographical area with

many manufacturers and other industrial enterprises

or a region with a production specialisation.

Industrial regions are formed under the influence of

the development of existing industry, territorial

division of labour, mineral deposits, existing

qualified population, etc. Industrial regions

specialise in distinctive industries with essential

resources and opportunities for their development,

producing products with lower production and

labour costs than other regions. Due to trends in the

industrial regions' development of some Eastern

European and Asian countries, it is time to build a

basis for reorientating industrial regions' sustainable

development in other conditions.

Developing trends are about: (1) outdated

production technology, energy-intensive production,

production of low-quality products with high raw

materials consumption, low value-added

production, (2) depletion of existing mineral

deposits, high research cost of new deposits to

develop, (3) low quality, skills, the motivation level

of labour resources, (4) low investment

attractiveness of industrial projects, (5) high

environmental pollution from industrial enterprises,

(6) wars and pandemics, the destruction of industrial

infrastructure, low labour resources. Thus, it is

necessary to analyse other opportunities for the

industrial region's development concerned with the

possible provision of unique resources and building

future competitive advantages for their

development.

The concept of regional sustainable development

requires balancing current and future satisfaction of

population needs, including ensuring a safe and

healthy living environment. In this direction,

industrial production must meet high environmental

safety standards, minimise ecological harm today

and in the future, and ensure security and stable

society welfare. Creating (restoring) the industrial

base of the industrial region due to the war's

outcome and on the principles of sustainable

development involves the high cost of industrial

equipment that would meet modern standards of

safety and environmental friendliness. It also

includes the need for a high level of education and

skills in labour resources involving high costs of

financial resources and time for training, as well as

increased risks in terms of attractiveness, payback,

and the profitability of industrial investment

projects. Consequently, the new ways of industrial

development based on unique resources (natural,

labour, capital, innovation, etc.) that are available

and used partially (not full scale), with low

efficiency (inefficient), are not used (due to their

unexplored or other reasons) are studied according

to principles of sustainable development. The basic

principles of sustainable development include (1)

sustainability and duration of development to meet

the needs of the present and future generations, (2)

limiting the exploitation of natural resources in

terms of technology, social organisation, the

environment's ability to self-healing, (3) satisfy

human needs; enabling opportunities to live in

security and prosperity, (4) reconciling (reducing

overspending) resource consumption with the

planet's capabilities, (5) reconciling the ability to

ensure an adequate standard of living through the

efficient available resources consumption. One of

the development directions of industrial regions can

be tourism development, particularly the market of

tourist services due to the availability of unique

resources. UNWTO predicts increasing tourist

services; thus, related sectors of the national

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economy will develop, [23].

The market of tourist services is an open system

connected with the general services markets and a

separate regional economic complex. Tourist

services are the object of tourist activity and the

basis for the interaction of tourist services

consumers and producers in the market, reflecting

the tourist market supply and demand. The world's

tourist services markets differ in the types of

countries' socio-economic development, the

functionality of market structures, and countries'

participation in world tourism. For example,

Ukraine has a reformed type of tourist market,

which occurs in countries with emerging economies

and is characterised by the functionality of market

structures supplying tourists to the world market.

Along with the predominance of international

import tourism, domestic tourism is resumption.

According to the Law of Ukraine "On Tourism",

participants of the tourist services market include

tour operators, travel agents, other business entities

that provide temporary accommodation, food,

guides-translators, guides providing activities

related to tourist accompaniment, and individuals

who provide services for temporary housing but not

being business entities, etc. Travel agents and tour

operators can function as legal entities, and

entrepreneurs and tour operators - exclusively as

legal entities. However, tour operators are subject to

mandatory licensing. The licensing authority is the

State Agency of Ukraine for Tourism and Resorts

issues licenses to conduct tour operators and

maintains a license register of tour operators. Thus,

different entities interact in conditions of

administrative restrictions in the tourist services

market. There is also a supply of consumers to the

world market in regional markets, which

significantly affects the competitive interaction in

the domestic and regional markets. Competitive

market development also depends on priorities.

Thus, the regional industrial aspect distinctively

impacts the tourist sector.

Sustainable development of the industrial region

is based on competitive advantages related to unique

resources and involves using different natural

resources. Unique resources, introduced in the

transformed concept of the national rhombus by M.

Porter, depicted in Fig. 1, correspond with the

factors' parameters in the traditional theory of M.

Porter. Sustainable development also anticipates

assessing competition and competitive advantages;

lower financial, capital, innovation, and other costs;

lower risk of investment projects; higher levels of

attractiveness; environmental friendliness; security,

the profitability of investment projects; and higher

levels of compliance with the principles of

sustainable development. Therefore, we present the

analysis of the availability of unique resources, the

possibility of using them, and competition /

competitive advantage using the transformed

concept of the national rhombus by M. Porter.

The object of analysis is a typical industrial

region of Ukraine, with distinctive features that

require solutions to the following problems:

•chaotic branch orientation of industrial facilities

without a single development vector supposed to

determine by the company;

•lack of company town perceived by local

communities and represented the unifying character.

Eventually, those towns could become public cities

due to industry and trade diversification, [24];

•typical practice of infrastructure development, for

example, servicing local industry within transport

communications;

•lack of adequate logistics in industrial urban areas,

which makes it challenging to integrate industrial

expansion with other activities such as tourism;

•lack of plan and will to transform urban

infrastructure under the scheme "transformation of

urban infrastructure-launch of cultural and tourist

projects" to the European scale;

• prioritisation of state financing of projects with

immediate impact, i.e. priority of political projects

over tourist projects or some other type of projects;

• unfavourable investment climate, [25].

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Fig. 1: Transformed concept of the national rhombus M. Porter to assess competition / competitive advantage

Source: Built on own research, [15]

The key unique resources of a typical Ukrainian

industrial region may encounter:

1) cultural and natural history, namely:

• nature reserves, water reservoirs, flora, and fauna;

• industrial tourism, the center of which is the

industrial-economic and architectural style or

combination of the industrial and natural landscape;

• unique museums, such as a doll gallery, weapons

history, and retro technology;

• ability to provide an animation effect - the ability

to move a person in time and space;

• ancient Bronze Age settlements with European

significance;

• imperial heritage in architecture;

• industrial housing and buildings construction on

standard projects dated back to before the Second

World War;

2) geographical location, suitable climate;

3) environmental friendliness, safety, and so on.

Based on the statistical surveys of key tourist

market players, which depend on their number and

performance in a typical industrial region, we can

observe that the number of tour operators declined

between 2011 and 2020. At the same time, the

number of travel agents increased, except for 2014-

2015 - due to military intervention in the East of

Ukraine, there is a concern about safe

accommodation and mobility (presented in Fig. 2).

Fig. 2: Tourist entities in a typical industrial region during 2011-2020

Source: Built on the data from [18], [19]

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The increase in the number of travel agents is a

consequence of the growing demand for tourist

services related to improving Ukraine's social,

cultural, and tourist image due to the holding of

EURO 2012. At the same time, there was a decline

in domestic and outbound tourism (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3: Dynamics of tourist flows of a typical industrial region during 2011-2020

Source: Built on the data from [18], [19]

The depicted instability of tourist flows is

evidence of the constant needs of the customers; the

needs' satisfaction depends on various factors. They

include external (improvement/deterioration of

tourist image, political, economic, cultural, and

other situations in the country/region, number of

services, prices for substitutes, etc.) and internal

(consumer income, which forms the purchasing

power, factors that affect the level of consumer

income).

The flow of international tourists determines the

growth of regional markets. We can see that the

number of visitors served by tour operators and

travel agents-legal entities declined (in 2011-2012,

2014-2016), while the number of tourists serviced

by travel agents-individuals-entrepreneurs increased

(in 2013, 2017-2018) - see Fig. 4.

Fig. 4: Dynamics of distribution of tourist flow of a typical industrial region distinguished by types of tourist

entities 2011-2020

Source: Built on the data from [18], [19]. The data for 2019-20 represents the total number of legal entities operating as

tour operators and tourist agents

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We conducted a comparative analysis of the

motivation of tourists' visits to the industrial region

in 2014 and the last period before the pandemic

(2019). We aimed to study the demand in the market

for tourist services in a typical industrial region in

the context of the need for tourist services (Fig. 5).

The fall in the share of business visits (by 4%),

visits for medical treatment (by 2%), and special

tourism (by 1 %) increased the number of tourists

visiting the typical industrial region for leisure and

recreation. The observed trend harms business and

medical tourism development, does not stimulate

the entities in these market areas to upgrade

infrastructure and accommodation, and thus leads to

moral and physical depreciation of fixed assets.

Fig. 5: Comparison of the distribution of domestic tourists of Ukrainian citizens in a typical industrial region in

terms of travel purposes in 2014 and 2019, %

Source: Built on the data from [18], [19]

Thus, the statistical and comparative analysis of

a typical industrial region has revealed the following

problems that hinder the sustainable development of

the region's economy - described through the

categories of the transformed concept of M. Porter's

national diamond model:

(1) Insufficient utilisation of resource potential.

If current resource potential is effectively exploited,

it can serve as a foundation for the development of

tourist and recreational infrastructure, which will, in

turn, give impetus to the reorientation of the

economy of the obsolete industrial complex to

services in the long run.

(2) The level of competition and the

composition of the key players in the market of

tourist services. In the market of tourist services in

Ukraine, the key players are tour operators that form

their tourist products, while travel agents act as

intermediaries in its implementation. According to

experts, the market of tourist services in Ukraine is

oligopolistic, as it has a limited number of large tour

operators holding significant market shares, which

are focused mainly on outbound tourism. These are

international tourist operators TEZ TOUR, Join

UP!, Anex Tour, Coral Travel, Pegas Touristic, and

TUI Ukraine. A limited fraction of tour operators

with high market shares can take advantage of their

position to enforce unfair competition, such as

setting their exchange rates and not indicating the

cost of services in UAH, creating possibilities to

mislead and influence customers to push them to

purchase services, as well as offering services of

carriers with whom the tour operator has no

contracts; placing misleading information regarding

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market leadership in advertising, which gives the

consumer the impression of reliability and stability.

(The AMCU's Kyiv branch opened a case in January

2020 based on an investigation of the websites of

the ten major travel operators in Ukraine), [26].

(3) Tourist services demand reflects the

relevance of the need for tourist services (leisure,

recreation, medical treatment, sports, business

travel), service consumption patterns (frequency of

service consumption, the likelihood of returning to a

tourist destination), and requirements for tourist

product quality as well as the level of tourist

services. The industrial region's demand for tourist

services is typically underdeveloped and

insufficient. It happens because tourists are usually

unaware of what products are available at the

market and where they can be obtained, even if

there are potential and resources for developing

high-quality tourist items.

(4) Transportation, communications, lodging,

and infrastructure are all allied industries that

provide or consume tourist products and services.

Roads, infrastructure, and the environment are all

challenges that affect the industrial region. It is

necessary to upgrade outdated lodging and catering

facilities, which might have a multiplier effect on

the tourist services sector in the region.

(5) The war in Ukraine, changes in tourist

image, technogenic inventions, economic

fluctuations (prices, demand), political collapses,

climatic (natural disasters), and medical (epidemic)

factors affect the competitive advantages of the

tourist market in the industrial region.

(6) Monetary, fiscal, and foreign economic

policy measures implemented through the activities

of public authorities and local governments affect

the competitive advantages of the market for tourist

services in the industrial region.

The key economic indicators that can be used to

analyse the competitive advantages of the market

(including tourist services) using the categories of

the transformed concept of the national diamond by

M. Porter (The analysis is presented based on

information on the market of tourist services of a

typical industrial region (Zaporizhya region))

include:

(1) market capacity (tourist services market), as the

sum of all consumers' expenses for the purchase of

goods (tourist services), which, at the same time, is

the sum of sales of goods (services) of all market

suppliers;

(2) type of competition;

(3) the dynamics of the actual market capacity;

(4) the total number of competitors in the market;

(5) type of integration (identified vertical integration

is carried out mainly in the form of strategic

alliances - the formation of partnerships of

enterprises/groups of enterprises with

resources/competencies that can enhance each

other's competitive advantages or long-term

contracts with primary sources or

producers/suppliers and thus distribute risks based

on mutual trust between their participants);

(6) barriers to entry and exit from the market

(connected to the commencement/cessation of an

enterprise's activities), international tourism (for

example, the pandemic closed borders for tourists

for a time), licensing (for tour operators), long-term

agreements with raw material suppliers, and

customers' ability to instantly and without additional

costs refocus on consuming the services of another

company. Market competition can expand and cause

high exit costs due to the availability of illiquid

production assets, strategic interactions with actors

who engage with each other, and

administrative/social limitations. Economies of

scale, familiarity with the tourist product's brand,

additional fees (for registration of activities,

physical assets), access to supply systems and

product promotion, and lack of experience are all

factors that influence the magnitude of market

barriers.

(7) Market supply of goods/services (similar goods

(tourist services) are identified, which can be

recognised and chosen by consumers based on

differentiation from competitors' goods by various

factors: service quality, price flexibility, additional

product elements, seller qualification, loyalty

programs, company brand, etc. High differentiation

of the tourist product/service, a characteristic of the

monopolistic competition model, is used to gain

competitive advantages).

(8) Economies of scale (as established market

participants sell items at a considerably more

significant scale than those who have just entered

the market. Hence the scale can be one of the

barriers to entry. Existing entities will gain profit

based on the economies of scale, the magnitude of

which will be bigger than the profits of businesses

that have just entered the market, given the same

prices in the market and the ability of established

businesses to save on sales and promotion costs).

(9) Type of industry (since the creation of one or a

set of tourist facilities generally requires significant

material and financial assets, tourism is a capital-

intensive industry distinguished by high sensitivity

to the state and factors that influence the external

environment, commissioning of new / continuation

of existing/decommissioning of obsolete production

facilities);

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(10) Profitability level (Fig. 6 shows the

increasing trend in the cost of travel vouchers for

citizens of Ukraine within Ukraine, sold by tourist

companies in 2011-2020, in contrast to the relatively

stable price of vouchers sold to foreigners compared

to the base year (2011). The identified growing

trend is mainly related to the increase in the cost of

tourist services: during the study period, there was a

declining trend in the number of vouchers sold for

citizens of Ukraine and foreigners compared to the

base year (2011), as shown in Fig.7. The general

economic downturn can explain the downward trend

in this indicator, political instability in the region,

and hostilities in Ukraine. As the share of foreign

tourists is insignificant (neither in quantity nor in

value, it shows growing trends during the analysed

period), the number of Ukrainian citizens and

foreigners engaged in tourism in a typical industrial

region decreases (see Fig.7). Therefore, the growth

of revenues of tourist entities of the typical

industrial region during the study period is mainly

the result of the growing prices for their services

(see Fig. 6).

Fig. 6: Dynamics of the cost of travel vouchers sold by tourist entities of the typical industrial region to the

citizens of Ukraine and foreigners within Ukraine during 2011-2020

Source: Built based on the data from [18], [19]

Thus, in terms of key economic indicators, the

tourist services market in a typical industrial region

is defined by an upward trend, various types of

competition, and the high differentiation of services

provided. The tourist services market's key

economic indicators represent its current state. Still,

they do not explain recent developments and are not

always an effective tool for forecasting in an

unstable, volatile, and complex environment. We

can use the notion of driving forces to account for

the influence of the external environment. It

considers the presence of driving factors in the

environment influencing the direction and extent of

changes in the tourist services market. Thus, it is

necessary to define the driving forces and, secondly,

to assess their impact on the situation in a typical

industrial region's tourist services market.

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Fig. 7: Dynamics of the number of travel vouchers sold by tourist entities of the typical industrial region for

citizens of Ukraine and foreigners during 2011-2020

Source: Built based on data from [18], [19]

The following are the key driving forces in the

tourist services market of a typical industrial region:

(1) The increasing dynamics of tourist market

capacity based on data regarding the intensity of

tourist service consumption in the region over the

study period;

(2) The shift in consumer segments, including a

decrease in the share of foreigners, followed by an

increase in the percentage of Ukrainian citizens

(nationwide), an increase in the share of children (in

terms of age), and an increase in the share of leisure

travel (in terms of travel aim);

(3) The lack of product innovation - the variety of

tourist services remained constant over the study

period, including accommodations, meals, leisure,

medical, recreational, and excursion services;

(4) The tourist service production technologies and

processes remained unchanged;

(5) The application of innovative promotion

techniques – such as using worldwide and national

Internet sites for the supply of accommodation

services, building a favourable image of the region,

and the promotion of domestic tourism through

information service centres;

(6) The absence of new market players;

(7) The distribution of know-how, primarily in the

areas of online booking, payments, and advertising -

the use of cutting-edge technology to improve

communication and reduce wait times for booking

confirmation, payment procedures for travel

services, as well as sending complaints, and getting

corresponding replies for them;

(8) The overall state of the tourist services market in

the region shows that costs for producing tourist

services have remained stable over the analysed

period, indicating a trend of increasing tourist

service efficiency in the market, which is consistent

with the increasing profitability of tourist services.

(9) Consumer preferences analysis shows that

international tourism has replaced domestic tourism

over the studied time; even during the COVID-19

pandemic's restrictions, the number of tourists who

prefer foreign travel decreased, while the number of

domestic tourists decreased as well. Tourists'

interests (outbound and domestic tourism) are

shifting toward price reduction and uniformity of

tourist services.

(10) The unchanged state regulation of the market of

tourist services - although there are parties

interested in reforming the legislation and acting in

this direction, aimed at bringing it in line with

European standards, etc.;

(11) Current public opinion is changing in the

direction of shifting the emphasis on environmental

issues, combating environmental pollution,

preserving the cultural and historical environment,

and so on. In the industrial region, there are

problems of air pollution, wastewater due to

discharges of harmful and polluting substances of

enterprises, and sewage waste acute unresolved are

the issues of preservation of cultural and historical

heritage;

(12) Due to the pandemic, the level of

uncertainty and risk in the tourist business has

increased dramatically, and the situation has

remained unresolved since 2020.

Growing market uncertainty due to the pandemic,

shifting consumer preferences in favour of

inexpensive and standardised tourist services, and a

decrease in the percentage of consumer income

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spent on leisure, the expense of offering tourist

services, and weak development of competitive

advantages are the most crucial elements impacting

the development of a typical industrial region's

tourist services market.

In the 1990s, when it became possible to engage

in business activities in general, and in the tourist

industry in particular, many travel companies were

founded – and this marked the beginning of

competition in the Ukrainian tourist industry in

general and in the industrial regions in particular.

There were no market barriers, the customers did

not require high-quality tourist products, and there

was a considerable demand for travel services. The

degree of competition was minimal, and most travel

enterprises were in the same situation (starting

without prior experience). It was uncomplicated for

travel companies to win over their customers and

gain market share.

The modern market for regional tourist services

is established, and there is a severe competition

problem. Thus, it is crucial to reinforce the

development of a competitive environment.

Developing and distributing tourist services of

appropriate quality at an equilibrium price involves

the redistribution of limited tourist resources while

considering the preferences and demands of

economic entities in the market. The region's tourist

industry is presented as a system capable of

reproduction, a set of entities that provide tourist

services based on the combination of tourist /

historic/ cultural resources.

A typical industrial region, such as Zaporizhia,

was discovered to have both tangible and intangible

assets required to create a competitive advantage

based on unique resources:

• cultural and historical - the region is attractive

for tourism due to its historical past, which

combines urban landscapes with specific

architecture with traditional attractions;

• natural and climatic - good geographical

location, in the south, is the coast of the Sea of Azov

with a total length of the coastline of over 300 km,

which houses the famous resorts – Berdyansk,

Primorsk, Kyrylivka;

• medical and recreational - resort and recreational

areas are located there, where there are sources of

mineral water and therapeutic mud of all

balneological types;

• ecological - almost 15% of the region's territory

consists of protected areas, namely: 314 nature

reserves/territories with an area of 122 thousand

hectares, landscape reserve "Balka Rizana", national

nature park "Velykyi Luh" and Azov National

Nature Park, Khortytsia Island, State Historical and

Archaeological Reserve "Stone Grave";

• based on the existing natural, climatic, and

historical conditions, there is a possibility of

developing green tourism; there are about 150

farmsteads in the region, [2].

The main competitive advantages strengthened

(+) or weakened (-) factors in the market of tourist

services of a typical industrial region, such as the

Zaporizhia region, include:

1) Favorable geographical location, available

natural resources (about 5% of the Zaporizhzhia

region are protected areas - national nature parks,

arboretums, reserves, sanctuaries, etc., whose

territories, as well as plants that grow on them and

animals that live on them, require protection.),

which can be (+) the basis for the development of

the market of tourist services and allow many

entities to occupy free niches in it, (+) are in a state

of reserve / extensive development (there are still

many interesting untouched natural areas, attractive

for tourist activities) - on one hand, and on the other

hand - (-) polluted air, sea, Dnipro, beaches,

estuaries, and spit, (-) due to natural factors,

excessive man-made load, there are also risks of

flooding of territories and buildings of coastal

zones, which are intensified, causing landslides,

exogenous geological and accumulative processes

(destruction of shores by waves), which pose a

threat to tourism development and allow the

industry monopolisation by reducing the willingness

of entities to operate with such initial resources;

2) There are historical and cultural resources in

the form of (1) history, dating back to the formation

of ancient civilisations (Scythians, Sarmatians); (2)

the formation of an independent political entity

based on the democratic principles of the

Zaporizhska Sich; (3) historical and cultural

reserves for the preservation of monuments of

architecture, history, culture, and art may be (+)

advantage of the development of the tourist

industry, (-) are not popular among tourists due to

lack / low awareness of them, (-) problems with the

preservation and popularisation of historical

heritage lead to its devaluation and vanishing in the

society;

3) The presence of minerals, favourable

location, and industrial traditions are the basis for

the industrial complex. Thus, (-) divert resources

from tourism development (more than 80% of

investments, including foreign ones, come to the

industrial complex of the region, and due to its

obsolescence, lack of modernisation excessive,

inefficient use of resource potential and damage to

the environment, which harms tourism by (-)

reducing the interest of tourists in recreation in

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environmentally unfavourable conditions. The usage

of antiquated equipment in businesses that do not

meet modern requirements, as well as obsolete

treatment plants that do not capture the most

dangerous substances that escape the atmosphere

untreated, are the sources of pollution. Due to a lack

of / obsolescence/wear of wastewater treatment

systems, impossibility due to lack of funding for

repair/upgrade / re-equipment of treatment systems,

wastewater treatment from pollution by emissions of

harmful and polluting substances is insufficient and

does not allow reuse of wastewater and reversible in

the production process. The quality and purity of the

Sea of Azov, which is rich in mineral nutrition, are

dependent on the responsible policies of production

entities in the area, as well as the level of pollution

of the coast, beaches, spit, estuaries, and untreated

stormwater from built-up areas of cities and urban

sewerage systems. The situation is challenging in

the village Kyrylivka of Yakymivskyi district due to

the lack of centralised water supply and sewerage.

The operation of about 500 private recreation and

lodging facilities produces wastewater in substantial

amounts (more than 5 m3 per day) that is collected

in cesspools and shipped to a liquid household waste

landfill on the Molochny Estuary's coastal strip,

which is on the verge of overflowing. Pollution of

the entire Azov Sea, Molochny Estuary, and Utlyuk

Estuary have already caused an ecological disaster,

destroying a recreational resource of regional and

national importance, as the Molochny Estuary is a

nature reserve and part of the Azov National Nature

Park.

Due to the dominance of industrial production in

the Zaporizhia region, trash accumulates on the

territory, with only around 30% of it being disposed

of, processed, or recycled, while the remainder is

held in specifically designated sites (landfills) or

incinerated (without energy). There are over 60

industrial waste landfills that are constantly

monitored to identify the harmful repercussions of

waste accumulation and to prevent them from

occurring in the future;

4) (+) A high percentage of small businesses

(more than 90%), well-developed infrastructure that

encourages competitiveness in the region's tourist

industry, and considerable expenditures in

infrastructure, innovation, and information

technology, (-) uneven distribution of infrastructure

facilities in Zaporizhia and other cities, lack of

expertise in many small firms, lack of access to

investment resources, international aid, and business

development programs; (+/–) different interactions

between entities through the activities of

heterogeneous entities (tourist industry entities,

interdependent and complementary industries that

compete directly (sell the same (replacement)

products/services) or coordinate their activities /

cooperate/integrate (in case of different

(irreplaceable) products/services);

5) (+) Tourist infrastructure development

(almost ten tourist information centres and web

portals), green tourism (more than 100 green estates

where you can get accommodation, food, etc.) -

current tourism trends in the region (-) are

insufficient, with a reduction in the number of

tourists (domestic and foreign) in 2019-2020;

Zaporizhia ranks first - with more than 70% of

tourists, 80% of tourists, 70% of tourist services,

and 90% of budget revenues; Berdyansk, Melitopol,

Energodar, Primorsk, Vasylivsky, Yakymivsky);

6) The influence of the external environment at

different levels (global, macro-, meso-, or micro-)

has a significant impact on market relations. It is

increasing competition due to (+/-) the emergence of

new attractive tourist destinations that win back

some of the tourist flow from traditional; (-)

pandemic and economic crisis, which cause a

decrease in tourist flows; (-) the emergence of new

forms of entertainment that reduce the popularity of

traditional travel/tourism, (+/-) growth of the

number of identical (replacement) tourist

products/services that lead to market saturation and

increased competition, globalisation (global

accommodation networks, global tour operators );

all this has a significant impact on the environment

of the tourist industry of Ukraine, in general, and its

regions in particular.

Thus, in the market of tourist services of the

studied typical industrial region, competition is

intensifying, competitive relations are aggravating,

and there are frequent cases of unfair competition

and abuse of dominance by market participants,

which along with lack of cooperation, harms the

tourist image of the region and reduces its

competitiveness. In order to assess the impact of the

environment and the strength of its factors on the

development of competition / competitive

advantages in the market of tourist services in the

region, identify strengths and weaknesses of

competition / competitive advantages, depict

opportunities and threats that increase/weaken their

impact analysis of tourism and

formative/interdependent industries in the region

has been made, the results of which are presented in

Table 1 and Fig. 8.

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Table 1. Results of SWOT-analysis of tourism and formative/interdependent industries in the industrial region

based on competitive advantages related to unique resources

Strengths

Weaknesses

Natural and climatic conditions, geographical

location (adjacent to the sea, the presence of the

coastline), water supply (river, sea, groundwater)

Environmental problems due to extensive obsolete

industrial complex, excessive use of natural

resources, large amounts of waste and effluents of

pollutants and harmful substances influence the

environment

Developed transport infrastructure (routes,

railway, Dnipro River, airport), which allows the

development of domestic and transit tourism

Transport infrastructure miscellaneous development

(concentration near large cities, poor condition/lack

of nearby resort and recreational areas), low

technical condition, obsolescence, low capacity,

congestion of roads and bridges of regional

importance

High development potential of renewable and

alternative energy sources, which can be used to

refocus on higher environmental friendliness,

improve air quality and water resources, and

provide accommodation/food/ cheap electricity,

which will reduce the cost of services and their

price that will create competitive advantages for

entities and an attractive tourist image

(environmentally friendly and ecologically safe)

of the region

Low innovative activity of new technologies

introduction

Availability of undeveloped areas that can be

used for tourist purposes, the possibility of their

effective planning with sufficient quantity of the

necessary infrastructure and entertainment

complexes, reasonable placement of

accommodation/food establishments / other

objects, the use of new construction

technologies, provision of appropriate sewerage

systems and waste treatment/wastewater

treatment plants, the use of alternative energy

sources that will minimise the harmful effects on

the environment

Low rates of construction growth and new

territories development, low investment activity in

the production and business

Ample rest and recreation areas, a large number

of objects of historical and cultural significance

Insufficient development and use of tourist,

recreational, and cultural potential of the region

(reduction of tourist flows and the quantity of

domestic/foreign tourists)

High professional level, the educational potential

of the economically active population, an

increase of public activity, low discrimination,

and high tolerance, which will become quality

tourist services provision basis, create a network

of hospitality and comfort for all categories of

the population

Low quality and the high price of tourist services

due to their high cost, seasonality, reduced

occupancy of accommodation facilities

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Opportunities

Threats

Growth investment attractiveness, increasing the

volume of international aid, continuing

integration with the EU (there are links with the

first, the fourth, and the fifth strengths)

Zone of military conflict in the immediate vicinity,

political instability

Creating a favourable business climate and

stimulating business development (there are

links with the third and the fifth strengths)

Negative macroeconomic trends (inflation, national

currency instability, rising energy prices,

monopolisation / low competition of

formative/interdependent industries)

Decentralisation, administrative reform, budget

independence of the region, administrative

services system reform (there are links with the

fourth and the fifth strengths)

Low level of development/imperfection of the

regulatory framework for tourist, tax,

environmental, and industrial policies

Energy efficiency policy in various spheres of

the region's economy, scientific and

technological progress, increasing the

availability of information technology (there is a

link with the fifth strength)

The high degree of pollution of atmospheric air,

river, and sea waters, shorelines of estuaries, spit,

and sea, the possibility of natural disasters from the

unresolved problem of waste management and

wastewater treatment of pollutants and harmful

substances, the probability of placing a nuclear

power plant, probable threats of man-made nature

Reorientation of the population to domestic

tourism (there are links with the first and the

fifth strengths)

Increasing the expenses of the regional budget due

to the growing number of migrants from the

neighbouring war zones, reducing the number of

working people whose income allows them to

spend on tourism

Reforming education and medicine to get

qualified staff and improve the quality of

services (there is a link with the sixth strength)

Development of transport infrastructure, in

particular, the resumption of river transport

across the Dnipro River (there is a link with the

second strength)

Reorientation to domestic tourism under the

influence of COVID-19 (there are links with the

third and the fifth strengths)

The strengths of the region's tourist industry

include geographical location and climatic

conditions, and the presence of a long coastline.

With the help of opportunities, they increase

investment attractiveness, attracting international,

including European aid, reorientation to domestic

tourism, and transport infrastructure development

will become competitive advantages of tourism in

the region. Situational opportunities (which will be

available after the war's end) are especially relevant

in current conditions - the COVID-19 pandemic,

forced restrictions on foreign travel, closing borders,

and inaccessibility of the Black Sea resorts of

Crimea. They create a basis for competitive

advantages of the region's tourist industry in terms

of reorientation to domestic tourism. Creating

favourable safe, comfortable, and attractive

conditions for travel due to these situational

opportunities is a sound basis for developing a

competitive advantage.

Other transport infrastructure (including weak

areas, use of alternative transport and transit

roads/routes) and alternative energy sources

potential development are supported by energy

efficiency policy, investment attractiveness,

favourable business climate, availability of free

tourist areas, enhanced investment attractiveness,

administrative reform and decentralisation, large

areas of existing rest and recreational areas in

support to investment attractiveness, favourable

business climate and energy efficiency policies, the

high professional potential of the population, which

is positively influenced by medical and educational

reforms. Solving the region's environmental

problems is possible through the implementation of

an energy efficiency policy. Transport infrastructure

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development will help solve the issues of high-

quality roads to various locations and concentrations

close to major cities. A favourable business climate

can increase innovation. Investment attractiveness

accelerates construction. Decentralisation,

administrative reform, and reorientation of the

population to domestic tourism will increase the use

tourist potential of the region. The reforms in

education and medicine can, directly and indirectly,

improve the quality of tourist services.

Fig. 8: Impact of opportunities and threats on the weaknesses of the tourist industry of a typical industrial

region

Opportunities reduce the weaknesses

Investment attractiveness

Favorable business climate

Decentralization, administrative reform

Energy efficiency policy

Reorientation to domestic tourism

Reforming education and medicine

Development of transport infrastructure

Low innovative activity

Weaknesses turn into challenges

Transport infrastructure miscellaneous

development

Low rates of construction growth

Insufficient use of tourist potential

Low quality of tourist services

Weaknesses turn into risks

Environmental problems

Threats reinforce weaknesses

Environmental problems

Transport infrastructure miscellaneous

development

Low innovative activity

Low rates of construction growth

Insufficient use of tourist potential

Low quality of tourist services

War

Negative macroeconomic trends

Imperfection of the regulatory framework

for tourism

High degree of territory pollution

Increasing the expenses of the regional

budget

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The high level of pollution of the territory makes

it impossible to solve environmental problems,

significant expenses of the budget do not allow to

solve the problem of miscellaneous transport

infrastructure development, negative

macroeconomic trends and high costs of the budget

lead to low innovation activity, slow down

construction development, lead to underutilisation

of tourist potential, imperfection of laws and

regulations reduces the quality of tourism services

provided on the tourist market of the region.

Thus, the most critical competitive advantages in

the market of tourist services of a typical industrial

region, which can be used for the tourist-

recreational way of strategic development of the

region, are:

• natural and climatic conditions, geographical

location, the presence of the coastline adjacent to

the sea;

• well-organized modern transport infrastructure;

• renewable and alternative energy sources use;

• free undeveloped territories;

• recreational areas and cultural facilities;

• high professional level of the population;

• domestic tourism due to situational opportunities

(pandemic, closure of borders, imposition of

restrictions on movement).

Impact assessment of factors influencing the

competitive advantage development in the market of

tourist services in the region was performed based

on expert surveys and average weighing of survey

results. The survey was conducted in the region's

business environment of tourism and

complementary industries; it was attended by about

150 participants, including managers/employees of

tour operators, travel agents, accommodation, food,

health, transportation, and entertainment.

Respondents were asked to assess the strength of the

impact of environmental factors on their enterprises

on the level of development of competitive

advantages with the help of questions in a specially

designed questionnaire. The strength of the impact

of each of these factors is proposed to be rated in

points from 10 points (maximum impact strength) to

0 points (no impact). The obtained total survey

results were reduced to the arithmetic mean with the

same level of weight for each. The results of the

obtained evaluation are presented in Table 2; the

factors that received the highest marks according to

the evaluation results are highlighted in yellow.

Table 2. The results of the impact assessment of factors influencing the competitive advantage development

in the market of tourist services in the region

Competitive advantage

Influencing factors

Impact assessment

(points)

Geographical location

Formation of tourist and investment attractiveness

Creating a safe environment

Natural-climatic /

historical-cultural

resources

Attracting international investment

Reorientation to domestic tourism

Administrative reform, decentralisation

Formation of the regulatory framework of tourism

Solving environmental problems (pollution of the

territory, water area)

Infrastructure (tourist,

transport)

Construction of roads, use of new transport and

logistics routes

Innovations

Reducing the budget burden

Alternative energy

Energy efficiency policy

Favourable business climate

Professional and

intellectual potential

Educational, medical reform

Quality and differentiation of tourist services

The world economy,

globalisation

Reorientation to domestic tourism

Formation of new tourist trends/tourist

destinations

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Thus, the geographical location as a competitive

advantage is most influenced by the tourist and

investment attractiveness of the region, the

attractiveness of natural-climatic / historical-cultural

resources - solving existing environmental problems

5 Discussion

There are different visions of the industrial regions'

development; some are related to the deepening of

industrial development, others - to the search for

alternative development directions. The success of

the region's growth depends on the balanced

combination of industrial and alternative

development. One can find the most effective

solution for the region's growth based on a

comprehensive analysis of strengths and

weaknesses, chances, and threats of development.

Consideration of regional development factors

depends on scientific approaches to regional

development. We have defined a complex

combination of opportunities for industrial and

alternative development, considering the factors in

the SWOT analysis performed in the study.

The strategic development of the industrial

region based on competitive advantages related to

unique resources is known in Europe as the example

of Bilbao, a city in Spain. Thus, the town belonged

to the country's most industrialised region after the

capital, with developed heavy industry. With the

population growth, the problem of the city's

development in the industrial direction became more

problematic. Enhanced social, economic, and

aesthetic development based on unique resources,

investment in infrastructure, including transport,

development, and further implementation of

rehabilitation projects such as Abandoibarra and

Zorrozaurre, have enabled sustainable development

and turned the industrial city into a service city,

[27].

The example of Bilbao confirms the thesis that

sustainable development of industrial regions is

possible with a balance of economic, social, and

environmental development, [28], [29], [30], [31],

[32], [33]. Under such conditions, the most

important task in strategic development is the

recovery of the industry in the country, taking into

account scientific and technological results and

active "smart" industrial policy, [34], along with

competitive advantages of industrial regions

associated with unique resources.

Based on tourism in industrial regions,

opportunities are created for small and medium-

sized businesses to diversify employment, which

will also provide an alternative source of income in

the case of traditional industrial incomes decline,

[34].

The development of industrial regions in the

tourist sphere, which requires the involvement of

small and medium-sized businesses, depends on

three components - government, the private sector,

and society, [35]. The government enshrines rules of

conduct in regulations, the private sector, as a direct

participant in economic relations, is the executor of

these rules, and society creates an atmosphere of

hospitality that will attract tourists.

6 Conclusion

Competitive advantages create the basis for the

success of the economy, region, industry, and

individual enterprise. Competitive advantages

depend on the use of unique resources in the field of

tourism - its geographical and climatic conditions,

natural and recreational resources, historical and

cultural heritage, the existing resort base, transport

infrastructure, and the development of related

industries. The current situation in the region

indicates fundamental problems – undiscovered

tourism potential, low efficiency of the industry and

available resources use level, low share in European

tourist flows, and low revenues from tourism. A

negative trend in the tourist market development

shows a decrease in capital investment in

accommodation and food, characterises the

obsolescence of tourist infrastructure, and depicts

reducing of inbound tourism share: it indicates a

reduction in interest in tourist destinations in the

region and a diminishing domestic tourism share

due to war, pandemic, restrictions on movement,

development of alternative tourism entertainment

services, reduced comfort and travel safety. Despite

the strengths, such as tourist attractiveness, tourist

destinations' attractive image formation, resource

availability, development of hotel infrastructure,

development of new tourist routes, increasing

attendance at tourist and cultural sites, and

increasing revenues from tourism services, the

dynamics of tourism lag behind global trends. It is

happening due to such factors as significant shadow

market share, the great influence of seasonal factors,

which characterises the low level of the industry

development, the need to update the hotel stock,

inconsistent with the international level of service,

unorganised and unstructured entertainment

industry, neglect of historical and cultural

monuments, environmental problems (air quality,

cleanliness of territories and water areas), low level

of promotion of tourist products on the world

market and information about them. It is established

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that the lack of an integrated system of public

administration of tourism and an imperfect

regulatory framework hinders the development of

competition and competitive advantages. It is

necessary to develop international tourism relations

through the conclusion of international and bilateral

agreements on tourism cooperation with

international organisations and other countries, to

adapt tourism legislation to international norms, and

to make amendments to major laws and regulations

governing competition in tourism.

During the study of the tourist sphere of the

region with the help of the concept of the national

diamond M. Porter, we found that cultural,

historical, climatic, medical, recreational, and

environmental resources are the basis for developing

competitive advantages of the region. We saw that

the number of actors operating in the tourism market

and tourists (citizens of Ukraine and foreigners

practising domestic tourism) decreased, which,

compared to the growth of outbound tourism, may

indicate a reorientation from domestic to outbound

tourism. It can be stated that demand in the market

of tourist services can be assessed as insufficient, as

despite great potential for the development of

quality tourist products, there is no widely

advertised information about it, conditions, places,

and opportunities to obtain it, which leads to a

reduction in the amount of time spent by tourists in

the region, does not create preconditions for

repeated or regular visits. Several external

conditionally independent (war, political and

economic instability, pandemic) and conditionally

dependent factors (environmental problems, uneven

development of transport, medical, entertainment

infrastructure, lack of attractive tourist image) do

not contribute to the formation and development of

competitive advantages of the tourism industry in

the region.

We can name the promising factors influencing

the development of the region's tourism sector in the

postwar period established based on the concept of

driving forces. These are the growth of market

capacity, changing segments of major consumers,

innovation in tourism products and technology, use

of know-how, mainly in booking, payment,

advertising, application of new methods of

promotion, stability of production costs with

growing profitability of tourism product, changing

consumer preferences, invariability of state market

regulation with increasing activity towards

reforming legislation, shifting public opinion on

solving environmental problems, preserving the

historical and cultural environment, ensuring

stability, security, reducing travel risks. It is

proposed to develop competitive advantages

through measures to solve environmental problems

(connection to centralised gas/water supply and

sewerage, which will solve waste pollution

problems, reduce costs for these services and reduce

the cost of accommodation services), increase

professional and intellectual capacity through

service differentiation accommodation (attracting

new consumer segments, increasing a load of

accommodation through promotional activities,

increasing the quality of services provided through

motivation, training of labour resources), the

formation of an attractive image of tourist

destinations (participation in tourist forums,

exhibitions, broad regular advertising campaign,

formation tourist brand of the territory, a visual

image of the tourist destination). The

implementation of the recommended measures

involves the use of unique resources that will

develop the competitive advantages of the tourism

industry in the region, optimise the costs of tourism

entities, increase the profitability of the tourism

industry, and increase the efficiency of tourism.

The study confirmed that the formed industrial

regions, due to changes in technology, availability

of minerals, etc., may cease to benefit society, and

vice versa – their activities can have a catastrophic

impact on the environment. Mono-development of

regions, which does not consider the possibility of

using unique resources, is risky in terms of

profitability of regions and the well-being of society

and also creates limited opportunities for territorial

development.

Sustainable development is aimed at sustainable

profitability, and in the context of human

environmental problems, industrial regions are

among the priority objects in need of reform.

Reforming industrial regions based on alternative

directions (use of unique resources) will allow using

the advantages of the region, which are friendly to

the environment. In most industrial regions,

advantages based on unique resources are hidden.

They can be detected only as a result of

comprehensive research. If the region develops in an

alternative direction, for example, in tourism, it

develops in accordance with ecological, safe, and

aesthetic standards of social development.

The authors focused on an alternative direction

of regional development - tourism development,

based on the use of unique resources. The

application of the SWOT-analysis model in the

study on the example of a typical industrial region

made it possible to confirm that unique resources

belong to the strengths of such region, which in

combination with other strengths, can reinforce

WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on SYSTEMS

DOI: 10.37394/23202.2023.22.49

Olena Bilovodska, Sofia Komarynets,

Natalia Mykhalchyshyn, Iryna Kantsir,

Olena Trevogo, Oksana Hoshovska

E-ISSN: 2224-2678

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Volume 22, 2023

regional development opportunities and reduce the

weaknesses. The basis of such reforms should be

environmental technologies used, but this may be

the object of further research.

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Olena Bilovodska, Sofia Komarynets,

Natalia Mykhalchyshyn, Iryna Kantsir,

Olena Trevogo, Oksana Hoshovska

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Contribution of Individual Authors to the

Creation of a Scientific Article (Ghostwriting

Policy)

-Olena Bilovodska compiled and supervised data

and manuscript edition; oversaw, directed, and

coordinated responsibility for the planning and

execution of research activities, including mentoring

outside; prepared, created, and presented the

published work by those from the original research

group, specifically critical review, commentary and

revision – including pre- and post-publication

stages.

-Sofia Komarynets formed the conceptualisation,

conducted data, a research and investigation

process, specifically performing the data collection,

developed methodology, and wrote the original

draft.

-Natalia Mykhalchyshyn analysed and interpreted

the data; prepared, created and presented the

published work, specifically data presentation.

-Iryna Kantsir applied statistical, formal techniques

to analyse and synthesise study data; helped in

manuscript preparation.

-Olena Trevogo formed visualisation and supervised

data, performed some of the remained analyses, and

helped in visualisation and data curation.

-Oksana Hoshovska provided study materials and

helped in manuscript preparation and edition.

Sources of Funding for Research Presented in a

Scientific Article or Scientific Article Itself

No funding was provided for investigating this

research.

Conflict of Interest

The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0

(Attribution 4.0 International, CC BY 4.0)

This article is published under the terms of the

Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en

_US

WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on SYSTEMS

DOI: 10.37394/23202.2023.22.49

Olena Bilovodska, Sofia Komarynets,

Natalia Mykhalchyshyn, Iryna Kantsir,

Olena Trevogo, Oksana Hoshovska

E-ISSN: 2224-2678

494

Volume 22, 2023