Problems and Directions of the State Policy of Tourism and Recreation Development in Ukraine: Geographical Aspects

The purpose of the article is the identification of problematic aspects, as well as the determination of promising directions of the state policy for the development of tourism and recreation in Ukraine, considering geographical aspects. During the research, such scientific methods of research as quantitative and qualitative comparison were used (to provide a description of the state policy of the tourism and recreation development in Ukraine); statistical analysis (for the analysis of the state and dynamics, geographical orientation of the development of tourist activity; system-structural analysis (for substantiating the priorities and tools of the state policy of stimulating tourism and recreation development in Ukraine). The indicators of the number of subjects of tourist and recreational activities in Ukraine, the distribution of outbound tourists by the countries to which they went, and inbound (foreign) tourists by the countries from which they arrived in Ukraine, the structure of outbound tourists of Ukraine by country, as well as the functioning of children's health and recreation facilities by region of Ukraine are represented. The directions and tools of the state policy for the development of tourism and recreation in Ukraine are substantiated. It has been established that the priority areas of tourism development in the regions of Ukraine should be the improvement of the effectiveness of image management, the implementation of marketing approaches, the formation of tourist flows based on logistics, the development and effective use of local intellectual and personnel resources. In terms of the development of the recreation sector of Ukraine, the leading vectors should be defined as improvement of the institutional foundations of relations regulation in this sphere; achieving high financial and economic activity of business entities in the recreation sphere, stimulating the increase of internal and external investments in the modernization and restoration of recreation facilities, support from the state and society for the creation of new jobs; development of inbound and domestic tourism, rural (green), ecological tourism; expansion of cooperation practices and international cooperation. The scientific novelty of the obtained results lies in the further development of the scientific toolkit for stimulating the activation of tourism and recreation. The practical significance of the obtained results lies in the possibility of differentiation of state policy in the regional aspect. Prospects for further research in this area relate to the substantiation of the priorities and means of the state policy of supporting tourism and recreation subjects in Ukraine in the conditions of war.