UDC 338.48:332.14:005.52(477.8); JEL Z32, R11, R58, Q56, O18
Yurkiv, O. M. (2026). Metodychni zasady analizu efektyvnosti turystychno-rekreatsiynoyi sfery Karpats'koho rehionu v konteksti staloho rehional'noho rozvytku [Methodological framework for analyzing the efficiency of the tourism and recreation sphere of the Carpathian region in the context of sustainable regional development]. In Sotsial'no-ekonomichni problemy suchasnoho periodu Ukrayiny [Socio-Economic Problems of the Modern Period of Ukraine]: Vol. 177 (1) (pp. 82-86). DOI: https://doi.org/10.36818/2071-4653-2026-1-12 [in Ukrainian].
Sources: 7

Authors



Yurkiv Oleh Mykhaylovych

Postgraduate of the Department of regional ecological policy and environmental management of the Dolishniy Institute of Regional Research of NAS of Ukraine

Contacts: oleh.yurkiv@gmail.com

Webpages:

Resume

The article substantiates the methodological framework for analyzing the efficiency of the tourism and recreation sphere in Ukraine's Carpathian region, encompassing Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, and Chernivtsi oblasts, in the context of sustainable regional development. The relevance of the study is determined by the growing gap between the region's significant resource potential and the uneven translation of this potential into a functioning, economically productive, and socially beneficial tourism system. Seasonal overcrowding at a handful of well-known resorts coexists with a near-total absence of visitor infrastructure in adjacent mountain communities, while aggregate growth figures mask deep spatial disparities in employment, income, and service quality. The additional strain of full-scale war, which has transformed the region into a primary destination for internally displaced persons, has made the question of efficiency both more urgent and considerably more complex. The study reconceptualizes efficiency from a narrow economic interpretation, limited to indicators such as overnight stays and revenue per room, towards a multi-criteria understanding integrating economic viability, social inclusiveness, ecological sustainability, and institutional coordination capacity. The organizational and economic prerequisites for tourism functioning are analyzed, highlighting the unique combination of natural-geographical, ethno-cultural, and landscape characteristics that shapes the regional tourism model. An adaptive four-stage methodology is developed, grounded in systemic, index, and scenario approaches. The first diagnostic-analytical stage establishes the information base and identifies instability factors. The second indicative-index stage constructs a system of integrated indicators across four dimensions: economic performance, social significance, ecological balance, and institutional-governance capacity, normalized using the min-max method. The integral index of tourism and recreation sphere efficiency is proposed as a weighted aggregate enabling interregional and intertemporal comparison. The third scenario-prognostic stage elaborates three development trajectories: inertial, stabilization-adaptive, and adaptive-innovative. The fourth stage assesses resilience and formulates management recommendations. Specific adaptations for the Carpathian context address spatial differentiation between urban centers and peripheral mountain communities, the concentration of protected areas covering 16 per cent of Ivano-Frankivsk and Zakarpattia oblasts, the substantial informal tourism sector that distorts official statistics, and the fragmented multi-level institutional structure of tourism governance under decentralization. The proposed indicator system is harmonized with European sustainable tourism assessment standards, notably the ETIS framework recommended by the European Commission.

Keywords:

tourism and recreation sphere; Carpathian region; functioning efficiency; analysis methodology; integral index; sustainable development; destination management

References


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