Perspectives for the Tourism and Hospitality Industry in a Globally Competitive Environment

Abstract

The emergence of the latest global challenges and threats caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and Ukraine's military confrontation with the armed aggression of the Russian Federation actualize the problem of destabilization of the tourism and hospitality industry and aggravate the need for post-war reconstruction of the destroyed infrastructure and ensuring the basis for sustainable development of the country. Under such conditions, the development of the tourism and hospitality industry acquires great importance, which can attract additional financial resources, create new jobs, increase the competitiveness of economic entities and enhance the international image of the country. The aim of the study is to justify the theoretical and applied principles and determine the prospects for the development of the tourism and hospitality industry in a globally competitive environment. The study applies general scientific and unique methods of economic analysis, namely: observation and system analysis; historical-logical method; analysis, comparison and synthesis; functional-system approach; graphical and tabular methods; generalization and systematization. Based on the findings of the study, it is established that the tourism and hospitality industry is experiencing a protracted crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic and armed military conflicts in today's environment. Significant reductions in tourism flow to Europe and Asia, and the Pacific have been identified, notably France from 86.9 million people in 2019 to 1.2 million in 2022, Spain from 81.8 million people in 2019 to 9.1 million in 2022, Singapore from 0.15 million people in 2020 to 0.54 million in 2022 and Israel from 0.25 million people in 2020 to 0.23 million in 2022. Meanwhile, the share of GDP produced by the tourism and hospitality industry in total global GDP declined from 10.3 % in 2019 to 5.3 % in 2020. In 2021, it slightly increased to 6.1 %, which requires state support for the tourism and hospitality industry and strengthening the competitiveness of economic entities in this sphere.