Problems and Prospects for Innovation-Driven Development of the Tourism Industry in Ukraine

Introduction. Ukraine has all preconditions for innovation-driven development of domestic and overseas tourism. Increasingly growing needsand demands of tourists have causeda constant search of new types of tourism products and the best positions in the tourism market.Problem Statement. The economic factors are the most significant ones for ensuring innovation-driven development of tourism and for building a capacity for tourism industry growth, but, at the same time, they are a problem (because of low personal income and standards of living, as well as a low demand of foreigners for tourism services in Ukraine).Purpose. To study the main problems and to identify prospects for innovation-driven development of tourism industry as one of major trends in Ukraine’s economic development.Materials and Methods. The following methods have been used: the abstract-logical method to define the main aspects and to make conclusions of the research; the dialectic method to analyze the research and publications reflecting different views on innovation-led development of tourism industry; the comparative method to analyze the indexes affecting the development of Ukraine’s tourism industry,the number of tourists served by tourism operators and tourism agencies by the types of tourism; the correlation method to determine the relationship between the indexes of tourism development and the indexes of Ukraine’s economic development.Results. The authors have discussed the problemsof innovation-driven development of Ukraine’s tourism industry in terms of economic, political, ecological, institutional, and technological factors of growth. They have evaluated the impact of these factors on tourism industry. The study has characterized the cost structure of the tourism entities in terms of services of third-party organizations involved in the creation of tourism products. The correlation between the standards of living (GDP per capita) and tourism flows has been established. The authors have identified promising trends in innovation-driven development of tourism in Ukraine. The use of correlation matrix has allowed determining the fact that the level of domestic tourism development and the capacity for involving foreign citizens in the context of the country’s tourism attractiveness depend on economic factors, in particular, onGDP per capita.Conclusions. The number of Internet users showing digital skills and the ability to use online-services of this industry is an important factor of the impact on innovation-driven development of the tourism sector. Global stress related to the Covid-19 pandemic has become a stimulus for the development of new technologies based on computerization, automation, and robotization.