Improvement of methodological tools for assessing the regional tourism ecosystem: the case of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic

Abstract

Importance: analysis of theoretical approaches to the development of a methodology for assessing the tourism potential of a region from the perspective of an ecosystem approach through the assessment of all parties (stakeholders) interested in the development of regional tourism, as well as identifying opportunities for the development of tourist ecosystems in the regions of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. Purpose: development of the author’s methodology for assessing the tourism potential of the region from the perspective of an ecosystem approach and testing of this methodology on the example of the regions of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. Research design: the research toolkit covers such methods as deduction, induction, comparison, system and functional analyses. The research examines the existing theoretical approaches and views on the definition and content of the concept of “tourist ecosystem”, analyzes the methods currently used to assess the tourist and recreational resources of territories, and also develops, substantiates and tests an original methodology for assessing stakeholders in the tourist ecosystems of cities and regions of Pridnestrovie. Results: the theoretical views on understanding the essence of the concept of the tourist ecosystem of the region are analyzed; the most popular methods of assessing regional tourist and recreational complexes are considered. The author’s methodology for assessing the tourism potential of regions from the perspective of an ecosystem approach based on the use of statistical data, expert survey and mathematical methods has been developed. The approbation of the developed methodology was carried out using the example of cities and districts of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. The advantages of this technique are the use of various assessment methods (expert, mathematical, analytical, statistical); simplicity of mathematical calculations and versatility (which consists in the possibility of its application in assessing other regions).