Tourism competitiveness is a basic requirement for a country’s presence in the international tourism market. A comprehensive and systematic assessment of tourism competitiveness and comparisons with other states make it possible to identify its structure, strengths and weaknesses. Assessing competitiveness is a live issue in the Baltic region, where tourism is an important part of the economy and a factor in improving living standards. This study advances the hypothesis that the methodology developed by the author will aid in assessing the tourism competitiveness of the Baltic region states. The research aims to assess the competitiveness of the Baltic tourism industries. It reviews methodologies for assessing the competitiveness of tourism industries and presents an original nine-step methodology for comprehensive assessment thereof. The aggregate index comprises four sub-indices (conditions, infrastructure, accessibility, and attractiveness), 22 components, and over 100 indicators. The calculations use a wide range of data sources. The results are displayed in charts and graphs. The Baltic region states are seen to have a high (Germany) or relatively high level of competitiveness. All the countries perform well on tourism infrastructure development and conditions for doing business in tourism. The Baltic reign states rank differently on the affordability of tourism. Germany is the regional leader in terms of attractiveness, followed by the Russian Federation, Poland, Norway, and Sweden. The analysis showed that Russia lagged behind its competitors in travel formalities, the climate for small and medium businesses, and travel safety; infrastructure, statistical monitoring, and promotion required attention as well. In the conclusion, the proposed methodology and the results of its testing are analysed.
The aim of the study in the article is the identification and conceptual analysis of the main essential features for the development of territories in the tourism sector based on a systemic approach. The relevance of the theme, along with the high request of the practice, is because of a systematic approach holistically and comprehensively allows addressing this range of problems. In the first part of the article, the author examines the main models of development of tourist areas; special attention is paid to the classical model of development by R. Butler and its modification through the prism of chaos theory. There is identified the cyclic and wave nature of development of the tourist areas. In the second part of the article the author reveals the essential components for the development of tourist areas through the answers to the following questions: what develops (elements of the tourism system, their interaction and the system itself), what is the result of transformation, what are the transformations and which medium develops, what are the factors/ forces of development, what is the relation- ship between mediums and factors of change, what are the strategies of the mediums and factors regarding the arising interactions. For each component of the development the author, based on his own experience, shows the essence and the conceptual content, which together allow the system to provide the development of tourist areas. Special attention is paid to the technological structure of the tourism system, as well as the main stages of formation of tourist experiences of travelling. The study uses the following methods and approaches: system- atic method, analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, abstraction, modeling, descriptive and comparative methods. The novelty of the work is the firstly conducted research in the essential conceptual and substantive sections of the underlying issues/components of the development of tourist territories. The identification and reference dimensions for the actual material specific area allows a system approach to show their development and outputs of the research with conceptual and methodological levels in the application, providing the appropriate tools for experts of this sphere.
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