The dissertation substantiates the theoretical and methodological foundations and develops practical approaches to optimizing the use of tourist resources in the region, on the example of Vinnytsia region.
It is established that the tourist potential of the region is a set of tourist resources, objects and properties of the territory, which are used or can be used in tourist activities. The main components of the region’s tourism potential are geographical location, natural and historical-cultural tourism resources, and infrastructure.
The study of the components and territorial structure of the region’s tourism resources will provide opportunities for rational use of its tourism potential. As a result, it will be possible to prevent negative changes in natural complexes and loss of tourist attractiveness of territories.
The optimal and elementary form of geospatial organization of tourist resources can be considered a destination. Tourism clusters are modern forms of geospatial organization of tourism, which allow using resources rationally, improving approaches to business management, getting better results, etc.
Improved and adapted methods for assessing the potential of tourism resources in four regions, each of which also contains a number of subcriteria: geographical location; natural tourist resources; historical and cultural tourist resources; infrastructure. The score for each of the criteria is given in points (from one to five), where the highest score indicates the highest level of potential of the territory for a certain component of tourist resources.
It is revealed that the main components of natural resources of Vinnytsia region from the point of view of possibilities of their use in tourist activity are hydrological, geomorphological, and also nature protection. Natural tourist resources of Vinnytsia region are rich and diverse enough to organize on their basis the developed destinations of health, ecological, adventure and cognitive tourism.
The main historical and cultural preconditions for the formation and development of the tourist potential of Vinnytsia region are the ancient history of settlement, archeological, historical and architectural monuments, including traditional wooden churches, and palaces.
Emphasis is placed on the destructive impact of tourism activities on the development of destinations, because the more intense the tourist flows, the greater the recreational load on the landscape. This causes their intensive change under the influence of anthropogenic activities, the essence of which is even broader than the recreational load, and also includes the activities of local people and businesses. It is established that tourist destinations of Vinnytsia region are not used intensively at the present stage, as evidenced by statistics and observations.
Based on the analysis of the territorial structure of the tourist potential of the region, a component assessment of the potential of tourist resources of the region was carried out according to an improved methodology, which allowed identifying patterns and disproportions of geospatial organization of tourist resources of Vinnytsia region in terms of administrative districts.
The analysis of the geospatial organization of the main tourist destinations of the region is carried out and the tourist zoning is carried out. There are five tourist subregions – Central, Verkhnyobuzky, Prydnistrovskij, Prydniprovsky, Nyzhnobuzkij. The potential of the tourist resources of the Central subregion is the highest, which is due to its geographical location and the inclusion of the regional center. The lowest potential for tourism development is characteristic of the two eastern subregions – Prydniprovsky and Nyzhnobuzkij.
Based on the study of the geospatial organization of tourist destinations in Vinnytsia region, the proposed ways to improve their development are differentiated by selected subregions. Recommendations have been developed to optimize the use of potential and geospatial organization of tourist resources in terms of new administrative districts of the region (after the Reform 2020).
