Competitiveness of the tourism and recreation sector in the Carpathian region of Ukraine: the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and martial law

Abstract

The article presents the assessing of the competitiveness of the tourism and recreation sector of the Carpathian region of Ukraine at the national level. It addresses the consequences of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and russian military aggression on the change in the competitive position of the tourism and recreation sector in the Carpathian region. The article emphasizes a significant decrease in tourist and recreational flows and the number of functioning tourist and recreational facilities due to the pandemic and quarantine restrictions. During the pandemic, tendencies to replace the flow of foreign tourism with domestic tourism were evident, contributing to the rapid recovery of tourism and recreational activity in the Carpathian region over the next year due to the high capacity of interregional competitiveness of its tourism and recreation sector. The recovery process was interrupted by the russian military aggression. The study shows the high competitiveness of the tourism and recreation sector of the Carpathian region in the postwar period and the possibility of further consideration of this sector among the priority goals in the development strategies of its oblasts.