ROAD MAP OF RURAL TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN RAYHOROD UNITED TERRITORIAL COMMUNITY

Abstract

The National Tourism Organization of Ukraine has declared 2020 the year of rural (green) tourism. This is not accidental decision, because Rural Development and Tourism was proclaimed by the UNWTO General Assembly as the theme of World Tourism Day 2020. The Ukrainian village is going through difficult times. More than 500 villages have disappeared from the map of our country since 1991, and almost 5,000 are now on the verge of extinction. In many countries around the world, rural tourism is an integral part of integrated socio-economic development programs of united territorial communities. The article proposes a road map for the development of rural green tourism for the center of Rayhorod united territorial community (located in the Haisyn district, Vinnytsia oblast) – the village of Rayhorod. The methodological basis of the study was a road map for the development of tourism in the united territorial communities elaborated by the NGO “Ukrainian Union of Rural Green Tourism”. The information base of the research was the data obtained during the expeditionary research in the community. Monitoring the potential of the territory and assessing the readiness of the community for sustainable tourism development was completed by developing a SWOT analysis. It is determined that the studied community has all the prerequisites for the development of this type of tourism. A big problem is the lack of basic knowledge of rural residents about the opportunities and benefits of tourism development for rural areas. It is substantiated that the organization of festivals can become a “tourist magnet” of the village. The community already has some experience, as it annually holds a festival dedicated to the Village Day, which is becoming more and more popular every year. A trip on the historic railway, which is very popular tourist activity in Europe, could be a “tourist highlight” of Rayhorod community. The visitors may be attracted by the picturesque Podolian landscapes that open from the windows of the train running in the valley of the southern Bug. Establishing cooperation with the territorial communities of the region in the direction of joint activities for the development of rural green tourism is one of the goals of the long-term Tourism Development Program in Vinnytsia oblast for 2021-2027; the article determines the need to elaborate a separate coupled program for the development of rural tourism for the village of Rayhorod.