The article presents the assessing of the competitiveness of the tourism and recreation sector of the Carpathian region of Ukraine at the national level. It addresses the consequences of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and russian military aggression on the change in the competitive position of the tourism and recreation sector in the Carpathian region. The article emphasizes a significant decrease in tourist and recreational flows and the number of functioning tourist and recreational facilities due to the pandemic and quarantine restrictions. During the pandemic, tendencies to replace the flow of foreign tourism with domestic tourism were evident, contributing to the rapid recovery of tourism and recreational activity in the Carpathian region over the next year due to the high capacity of interregional competitiveness of its tourism and recreation sector. The recovery process was interrupted by the russian military aggression. The study shows the high competitiveness of the tourism and recreation sector of the Carpathian region in the postwar period and the possibility of further consideration of this sector among the priority goals in the development strategies of its oblasts. 

tourism and recreation sector, competitiveness, Carpathian region, tourism and recreation activities, COVID-19, martial law 

The article examines how natural conditions and resources influence the competitiveness of the tourism and recreation sector of the Carpathian region of Ukraine. It highlights the methodological approaches to their assessment in the system of competitiveness factors in the studied sector of the regions on a national level. To calculate the competitiveness indices, the following dominant indicators are suggested: forested areas, mountainous areas, objects in the nature reserve fund, UNESCO World Heritage sites, medicinal mineral waters, deposits of therapeutic mud, ozokerite, lakes and estuaries with therapeutic brine, density of the river system, area of lakes, ponds and reservoirs, availability of sea beaches, number of hunting sites on the territory of hunting grounds. In addition to the partial indices for Ukraine’s regions based on individual indicators of natural resource factors, integral indices of regions are calculated. According to the indicators of integral indices of the impact of natural resource factors on the competitiveness of the tourism and recreation sector, the rating of the oblasts of the Carpathian region is determined, in particular: Zakarpatska (4.3) and Lvivska (3.4) oblasts are ranked first and second, Ivano-Frankivska – fifth (3.1), and Chernivetska – seventeenth. In general, natural conditions and resources offer significant competitive advantages to the region’s oblasts in providing wellness, tourism and wellness (especially in Lvivska and Zakarpatska oblasts), tourism and recreation, and tourism and sports services, particularly in skiing. The article reveals that the combination of natural conditions and resources available in the Carpathian region provides significant competitive advantages for its oblasts in the tourism and recreation sector at the national level. 

Carpathian region, tourism and recreation sector, natural resource factors, impact indicators, integral indices, competitive advantages