INTEGRATION PROCESSES OF INTERNATIONAL TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN THE VISEGRAD GROUP COUNTRIES: INDICATORS FOR UKRAINE

In today's conditions of fierce competition, complication of organizational, economic and other factors of influence on the market, integration brings together efforts and resources at all levels, boosts competitive advantages and allows to win in the competitive struggle. Integration in tourism corresponds to its intrinsic nature, as a large number of subjects are involved in the process of tourism product production: tourism, transport, insurance, excursions and other enterprises. The state of tourism development in the Visegrad group - the integration association of Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia – has been researched. Ukraine is an important strategic partner of the Visegrad countries in the field of tourism, including within the framework of the International Visegrad Fund programs since 2005. The four main stages of the formation and development of tourism in the Visegrad Group were developed and described by the author. The current stage, starting in 2016, is characterized by a slight drop in indicators reflecting the development of tourism, such as the number of tourist arrivals, the number of nights spent on the territory of the Visegrad countries. Such a negative dynamics conditioned the need to intensify a common marketing policy with an orientation towards the developing countries. Obsolete approaches to marketing communications in tourism are ineffective, and the need to develop a strategic business concept focuses not only on consumers but on key stakeholders of tourism business. The article provides a comparative analysis of key indicators in the tourism sector of the Visegrad Group and Ukraine. It is substantiated that despite considerable tourist potential, Ukraine is behind all the indicators of the Visegrad countries. In the context of the European integration policy vector of Ukraine's economic policy, the analysis of tourism development experience in the Visegrad countries has made it possible to distinguish the main conditions for successful integration in the tourism sector. Formation of such favorable conditions will allow to develop a competitive tourism product and increase the efficiency of domestic tourism business.