Махов М.С.
Донецкий
национальный университет экономики и торговли имени Михаила Туган-Барановского
PERSPECTIVES
OF TOURISTIC SERVICES IN THE CONTEXT OF EURO 2012
At the present stage of development of
contemporary human civilization the biggest cities are being transformed from
the centers of industrial production into the centers of concentration of goods
and services. As a result, the big cities start specializing in development of
education, financing, culture, tourism and so on.
In connection with this the role of the big cities in
the world tourism system has changed: they started transforming from the
generators of tourist flows into the centers attracting them. According to Euromonitor
International, in 2005 the share of 150 cities of the world made 237mln tourist
arrivals, accounting for 27 % of the world tourist flow. Thus, for example, the
world leaders in reception of foreign tourist are London, receiving over 15mln
of tourists per year, Paris, being visited annually by more than 9mln of tourists,
New York and Rome - by more than 6mln of tourists. Moreover tourism industry of
New York brings to the city economy USD 23bn and provides for 250thd working
places. In 2008 tourism brought to the budget of Paris about EURO 8bn and
provided for 148thd working places.
Some Russian big cities have also started the process
of transformation to the phase of post-industrial development. Currently the
big cities of Russia declare tourism to be one of the strategic sectors of
their social and economic development. At the same time the most crucial
factors that influence the making of this decision include the great cultural
and historic potential of the cities and substantial multiplicative effect of
enterprises of tourism industry, particularly development of their
entrepreneurial activity.
National theory and practice of
development of tourism potential of big cities is still in its infancy. While
big cities of Ukraine (Kyiv, Lvov) are positioned as historic centers or
centers with explicit health resort orientation (the AR of Crimea, Odessa), a
wide range of industrial cities of the Eastern part of Ukraine to search for new formats of attracting
tourists - as centers of holding large sport events. Donetsk can be reckoned among
them. Finally, Ukraine has got a chance to become a partner
of an EU -country in a great international business project - European
Football Cup EURO-2012. Therefore the city infrastructure has to augment its
potential (sport facilities, hotel complexes, etc) and special role is assigned
to tourism business structures that are in critical need for marketing
instruments.
The European football match of such a rank is an event opening
unique possibilities for the country in general and for each region in
particular; it is a powerful incitement for the development of the external
economic and investment activity, of the market of touristic services, because
an event of such a rank in the country means attracting a big number of
visitors to the Ukraine - sportsmen, specialists, fans, tourists from different
countries of the world (according to different sources – from 600.000 to
1,200.000 people)
But, there are no scientifically grounded
economic calculations and methodological provisions confirming effectiveness of
tourism marketing in the big cities. Furthermore, as a rule, growth indices of
the world tourist flow, share of tourism in the total volume of exports and in
the world volume of service trading and others are cited as proves of
expediency of tourism development in a big industrial city, which in our
opinion cannot serve as scientific grounds. This practically fails to take into
account the fact that the level and tendencies of foreign tourism development
differ considerably from the national one, which is connected first of all with
much later transition of our country to the development of market economy and
formation of tourism as a type of business activity.
According to the
report of the World Union of Travelling and Tourism, made in cooperation with
Oxford Department of economic forecasts, the Ukraine takes only the 110th place
in the world in terms of the activity of the development of the touristic
industry.
The market of
touristic services of the Ukraine is now at the initial stage cf its
development. Nevertheless, some positive tendencies of its development can be
recently observed, which are to be seen in the gradual formation of an
appropriate state touristic policy, development and expansion of the regulatory
legal field of the functioning of the touristic sphere, growth of the number of
internal, entrance and exit tourists, receipt of the touristic sphere payments
into the state budget.
The touristic sphere is being
mostly developed in Kiev, in big business centers of the country
(Dnepropetrovsk, Kharkov, and Donetsk) as well as in recreation zones (the
Crimea, Odessa, and the Carpathians).
The question of the
development of the touristic sphere, its preparation and reformation in the
context of the preparation to EURO 2012 is provided in the Law of the Ukraine
"About the organization and conducting the final part of the European
Football Cup 2012 in the Ukraine" and the State special program of the
preparation and conducting the final part of the European Football Cup 2012 in
the Ukraine.
The perspectives of the
development of touristic services in terms of the preparation and conducting
the European Football Cup EURO 2012:
• Creation of the state organ
of registration and control of the certification of hotels and the quality of
their services;
• Creation of favorable conditions
to attract investments for the development of the network of hostels,
mini-hotels, apartments;
• raising of the competition
nivea at the market of touristic services by increasing investments into the
development of the hotel sphere from the part of foreign hotel operators;
• Introduction of electronic
informational and automatic system of booking of hotel rooms;
• Development of the network of
touristic information centers;
• working out the concept and
creation of touristic agencies of the Ukraine abroad.
All the above indicates that our country has a certain
deficiency in theoretical and methodological works on this issue, which
determines actuality of the further investigations.