Methodological scheme of qualimetric assessment of recreational clusters

The article deals with the application of qualimetric methods for assessing recreational and tourist potential on the example of an ecotourism cluster developed for natural and geographical and socio-economic conditions and resources of the Ukrainian Black Sea region. The properties of recreational and tourist potential can have different nature, different definitions, and be qualitative-descriptive, verbal, or quantitative (numerical). In qualimetric developments, properties should be comparable in the form of representation and magnitude of evaluation scales. The aim of the study is to develop a methodology for qualimetric assessment of recreational clusters. The theoretical and methodological basis is the fundamental principles and developments of recreational geography, tourism studies and qualimetry, as well as the author’s own developments. In the process of writing, general geographical methods were used, such as descriptive, comparative geographical, and qualimetric assessment methods. Characteristics and properties presented in verbal form can be shown as structural combinations and compounds of simpler indicators. Factors that form the recreational and tourist potential have different weights (significance), which requires an appropriate assessment. The overall assessment of recreational and tourist potential is a weighted average value of all its components, taking into account their weight. The available absolute natural indicators of conditions and resources of recreational and tourist potential are also transformed into qualimetric estimates. The general methodological scheme for assessing recreational clusters, specified according to the conditions and resources of ecotourism of the Black Sea region is represented by seven stages – from structuring a recreational cluster according to its components and levels of hierarchical organization, calculating indicators of the weight of properties and calculating criteria for prop- erties that form the corresponding quality, calculating qualimetric estimates for all primary units of recreational and tourist potential; a meaningful interpretation of the assessment of the recreational and tourist potential of a recreational cluster based on the criteria of properties and scales of the corresponding features and characteristics, as well as indicators of the weight of properties in the formation of recreational and tourist potential. The developed scheme should be considered as a methodological approach for the practical application of qualimetric assessments of recreational and tourist potential in recreational geography and tourism studies.