The sphere of services as a determinant of the development of the hotel industry

The article presents the analysis of scientific research and determines some key guidelines of normative and legal regulation of our country’s hospitality industry at the current stage of its development. It was ascertained that the hospitality sector is a complex of industries whose main task is serving tourists during their stay outside their permanent place of residence. The hospitality sector, according to definitions by leading specialists in the field of tourism economics, includes the hotel and restaurant business, transport service enterprises, and the entertainment sector. The hotel sector in the structure of the hospitality industry performs key functions, as it offers consumers a range of services, in the formation and implementation of which all sectors and elements of the hospitality industry participate. Thus, it is appropriate to distinguish the hotel industry as the most complex component of the hospitality industry. The meaning of the concepts of «hotel business», «hotel industry» is associated with the economic activities of specialized enterprises that offer their own services on a commercial basis and provide traveling customers with the necessary conditions for accommodation and meals. In a competitive hospitality services market, the desire of enterprises to obtain the highest profit and the growing solvency of service consumers encourage hotel businesses to provide not only accommodation and meals, but necessitate the expansion of the scope of additional and related services. This enriches the meaning of the concept of «hotel business» and expands the scope of activity of hotel enterprises that provide services not only of their own production, but also of related industries. The development of the hotel industry requires the creation of certain favorable legal regulations. Taking into account international requirements for the quality of hotel services, numerous industry regulatory documents need to be updated. The Law of Ukraine «On Tourism» provides for licensing of tour operator activities (Article 17) and standardization in the field of tourism activities (Article 18). Therefore, in our opinion, licensing and certification procedures should play a key administrative role in state regulation, the use of which will contribute to improving the work of hotel industry enterprises, improving the quality of hotel services, and ensuring their comprehensiveness. The introduction of licensing in the hotel sector will contribute to the creation of new opportunities for business entities in the hotel and hospitality services market. An equally important function in the provision of hotel services is performed by certification, i.e. a specific method of confirming the compliance of the quality and form of provision of a complex of hotel services with current national standards. Problematic issues include the regulation of land ownership, especially for foreign investors. The lack of opportunities for land privatization and unfavorable terms for its lease for the construction of hotels, as well as the mechanism for the concession of historical and architectural buildings, does not attract foreign companies to the hotel business. Specific legal regulation is required for the development of small hotels capable of creating a unique flavor of national hospitality, and for the creation of corporate forms, traditional in the global hotel industry, like international hotel chains. One of the factors intensifying the development of the industry at the current stage should be considered the implementation of a real transformation of ownership relations, the corporatization of hotel enterprises. Privatization and corporatization will lead to an improvement in the quality of management at hotel industry enterprises, as well as the material and financial condition of the industry. Therefore, improving the legal framework for hotel industry enterprises should be considered an important prerequisite for their further development.