Transformation of Cruise Tourism Management in Ukraine

Abstract

The transformation of cruise tourism management in Ukraine and peculiarities of its development at certain historical stages, which allows estimating the internal potential of cruise tourism, problems and development prospects in a turbulent modern age is considered in the article. The main goal is to conceptualize developments in the field of management and history of cruise tourism, as well as generalize leading practices on this issue to form a modern model of cruise tourism management in Ukraine. After all, in the context of globalization, the issue of considering the evolution of industries, sectors of the economy, as well as determining the segments of their active growth and development trends in general remains relevant. Systematization of literary sources and experts’ points of views has shown that the scientific discourse is fragmented and briefly touches upon the research on the features and problems of cruise tourism in Ukraine from the standpoint of transforming approaches to its management. The urgency of the study is due to the fact that currently there is no thorough analysis of the history of cruise tourism in Ukraine in general and retrospectives of its management in particular. After all, the formation of the industry occurs at the intersection of different areas as a result of management decisions that accumulate the potential for diffusion of innovations and aimed at forming new value chains, creating latent demand in the existing system of government, i.e. taking into account current and strategic risks. The methodological basis of the study consists of management, tourism and economic theories, which tools are able to form a theoretical and methodological basis for determining the directions of transformation of cruise tourism management in Ukraine. The object of research is the process of conducting a detailed analysis of the historical background and patterns of transformation of cruise tourism management in our country. With this in mind, the advantages and disadvantages of cruise tourism management at different stages of its development are identified. It is found out that the management of cruise tourism at the present stage is inefficient, and the restoration of its development to the level of the 1990s requires state support in terms of the relevant infrastructure and restrictions on the operation of passenger ships that do not meet environmental standards in accordance with the concept of sustainable development. Emphasis is also made on the importance of supply differentiation in cruise tourism as an effective management model of its development. It is not unreasonable to say that the potential of cruise tourism has not yet been fully explored, thus, effective measures should be taken to support and promote this type of recreation given the experience of world leaders in tourism, who actively develop water transport through science and technology. The study highlights the historical transformation of cruise companies' offerings and predicts that due to innovative solutions to ensure their competitiveness, domestic cruise companies will be able not only to develop this type of tourism, but also to maintain their market share in a changing environment. The study confirms and theoretically proves that historical changes in the development of the tourist cruise market determine the need to monitor its subjects and the level of their innovation. The analysis shows that the consolidation of the global cruise market increases security guarantees for tourists and their awareness under the conditions of the current turbulent age, reduces the risk of the cruise product, ensuring its quality standardization of social responsibility, continuous development and service improvement. The historical angle for the research of subjects of domestic cruise tourism gives the chance to define development prospects of a cruise tourist product which should be formed on the basis of both world technological innovations and independent innovative search. The praxeological results of this study should intensify the introduction of modern balanced approaches to the development of cruise tourism and its product into the service market, taking into account leading international practices.