1. Introduction Tourist industry acquires more and more value for development of economy and social sphere in the Ternopil oblast Development of inbound and inter- nal tourism, excursion activity has a tendency for upgrading of life in that area, process of creation additional workplaces, filling of local budget and in- crease of authority of region both on internal and on international tourist markets. The Ternopil oblast having an advantageous geopolitical location owns considerable tourist- recreational potential favorable climatic terms, plain and mountain landscapes, riches of flora and fauna, developed transport network, plenty of historical sights of culture and architecture. Tourist industry in the area needs an additional advertising. The special attention should be turned on forming of the positive image of the region in the tourist market of the country and Europe, applying Journal of Geography, Politics and Society 2017, 7(3), 57–63 DOI 10.4467/24512249JG.17.028.7184 TOURIST FLOWS IN TERNOPIL OBLAST CURRENT STATE AND DEVELOPMENT PROSPECTS Oresta Bordun (1), Liubov Althaim (2) (1) Tourism Department, Faculty of Geography, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Doroshenko 41, 79000 Lviv, Ukraine, e-mail: obordun@ukr.net (corresponding author) (2) Geography of Ukraine and Tourism Department, Faculty of Geography, Ternopol National Pedagogical University named after Vladimir Gnatyuk, Kryvonosa 2, 46027 Ternopol, Ukraine, e-mail: altheim@ukr.net Citation Bordun O., Althaim L., 2017, Tourist flows in Ternopil oblast: current state and development prospects, Journal of Geography, Politics and Society, 7(3), 57–63. Abstract The features of development of inbound and internal tourism, excursion activity in the Ternopil oblast are exposed in the article. The analysis of tourist activity of touristic agents and tour operators, directions and structure of tourist streams of the Ternopil oblast suggestions of tourist enterprises and level of tourist market of area development is conducted. The special attention is paid to the tourist infrastructure, namely to establishments of placing, feed and leisure. Absence of specialized programs for people of senior age, that elect memorial, biographic or religiously-sentimental tours that are organized, as a rule, without participation of tourist enterprises of the area is marked, and also not enough developed infrastructure, low quality of tourist services, not formed the internal touristic product are mentioned as the components that prevent market from tourist services development. Key words Ternopil oblast, tourist industry, inbound tourism, internal tourism, excursion activity, tourist activity, tourist-recreational po- tential of the area, tourist services, tourist market, excursion routes, tourist infrastructure. 58 Oresta Bordun, Liubov Althaim PR-technology. Development of infrastructure and creation of favorable terms for business-tourism will give a synergistic effect: workplaces, gap-fillingness of regional budget, stimulation of business activity and bringing in of investments. 2. Analysis Tourist market in Ternopil oblast is represented by tour operators and travel agents who are engaged in creation and sale of tourist products aimed at domestic and foreign areas. According to the Sta- tistics Department of Ternopil oblast tourism activ- ity involved 43 subjects, including 8 tour operators, 33 travel agents and 2 tour operators engaged ex- clusively in sightseeing activities in 2015. The vast majority (88,4%) of tourism activities was in Ternopil, Kremenets and Zbarazh districts. Income from tour- ism services (without VAT, excise taxes and similar mandatory payments) amounted to 5884.3 thou- sand UAH in 2015 (4282 thousand UAH in 2014) (Ста- тистичний…, 2016). Information on tourist flows in the Ternopil oblast in 2014 and 2015 is given in Figure 1. Foreign tourism dominates in the structure of tourist flows in Ternopil oblast as domestic tour- ism products are undeveloped. Domestic offer of travel companies in the oblast is very limited with infrastructure therefore tourist flows are directed to well-known tourist centres such as Pochaiv, Zbarazh, Zarvanytsia, karst caves, Dzhurynskyi waterfall, Ter- ebovlia, Mykulyntsi, Ternopil etc. Compared to the year 2014, the number of citi- zens of the oblast, who travelled abroad, increased by 5.9% and amounted 4 970 people most of whom spent there their holidays. The residents of the Ternopil oblast visited forty-two countries. In 2015 the most popular among the trips abroad were Egypt (1 515 people), Turkey (1 232 people) and Bul- garia (783 people). Typically, tour operators are fo- cused on these tourist countries and this is caused by their pricing. Among the citizens of the oblast, who travelled abroad, 768 people (15.5%) were chil- dren aged 0–17 years. Domestic tourists travelled more often with the purpose of leisure and recreation; statistically their number was 1 643 people. 20 museums of the oblast were visited by 618.6 thousand people in 2015. This figure is much higher than the official number of ex- cursionists and that can be explained by the fact that a majority of tourism enterprises include in a guided tour many museums, memorial estate museum or historical and cultural reserves. In the tourism mar- ket there can be observed a revival of tourist flows outside the oblast centre and the residents of other oblast gradually increase interest in local touristic at- tractions (http://www.te.ukrstat.gov.ua). To determine the level of development of the tourism market of the oblast it is necessary to ana- lyse statistics on the number of tourists served by the subjects of tourism in the oblast and the total cost of sales of travel packages for the 2014–2015 years and compare them in Table 1. As you can see the number of sold travel pack- ages over the last year has decreased, but their to- tal value increased by more than 10 thousand USD. Such trends are related to changes in exchange rates and significant inflation in Ukraine. In 2015 services of tourism enterprises were used by 6.9 thousand people (in 2014 – 9.1 thousand people). These were people aged 15–44 years most- ly; rarely firm’s clients are children under 14 years old, which go on a trip alone. It was found that the Fig. 1. Number of tourists (person) served the subjects of tourism Source: http://www.te.ukrstat.gov.ua Tab. 1. The number and cost of travel packages sold by the subjects of tourism Year Number of sold travel packages The cost of travel packages sold [thous. UAH] 2014 3786 25151.4 2015 3479 37006.6 Source: http://www.te.ukrstat.gov.ua Tourist flows in Ternopil oblast current state and development prospects 59 proportion of school-age children of all travellers is about 5% and this is due, primarily, to the lack of spe- cialized children’s tours in the local tourism product. Usually children’s holiday is health improvement in children’s camps. A significant proportion of domes- tic tourists are pupils, which together with students predominate among the visitors of museums (80%), and therefore among people on an excursions (Про- грама…, 2016). The oblast does not have specialized programs for older people, that’s why these residents don’t use very much the proposals of local tourist companies, although these are the tourists to consume nostal- gic tours, the organization which is promising for the Ternopil oblast because of many suitable tour- ist facilities for these activities. Retirement age visi- tors, whose share does not exceed 5%, have already been registered in the memorial museums and his- torical and cultural reserves in general. Among the older visitors greatly dominate foreigners (usually of Ukrainian origin) who choose memorial, biographi- cal or religious and sentimental tours organized usu- ally without the involvement of travel companies of the oblast (Програма…, 2016). Tourism infrastructure is an important part of the tourism market besides subjects of tourist mar- ket. Tourist infrastructure is a set of enterprises and institutions, which are aimed at meeting the needs of people, who are involved in the rehabilitation or recreation, and it includes means of communication, transport and accommodation of tourists provid- ing stable operation conditions. We consider it an integral system consisting of two subsystems: social and production that are interconnected and inter- dependent regarding service entity (Кузик, 2010, p. 170). Tourist infrastructure of separate territorial unit is considered to be a combination of companies that provide various services: • hotels and hostels; • catering; • entertainment places etc. Accommodation facilities. One of the main com- ponents of the tourism industry in Ternopil oblast, which determines the real tourism potential, is hotel industry. Hotel enterprises perform one of the most important functions in the service of tourists – ac- commodation; the quality of accommodation and related services affect the level of tourist service. Hotel industry of Ternopil oblast is represented with different types of temporarily placement for tourists. Although the hotel infrastructure could be much better, you can find both private apartments and es- tates for rent for tourists, deluxe hotel and some star hotels. At the beginning of 2015 accommodation facilities operated on the territory of Ternopil oblast reached number of 70; their distribution can be seen in Table 2. However, the actual number of hotel establish- ments in Ternopil oblast is greater, because many existing hotels are not officially put into operation and are not covered by the statistical reporting. Daily rent services are provided using residential apart- ments and private hostels in the cities; most of them are unregistered in the state register. Tab. 2. Accommodation facilities in Ternopil oblast 2014 2015 Number of accommodation facilities 70 70 Hotels and their analogues 58 58 Hotels 39 39 Motels 2 2 Hostels for visitors 1 1 Tourist centres, mountain shelters, student summer camps and other places for temporary accommodation 16 16 Special arrangement of vehicles (units) 12 12 Resorts 3 3 Children’s sanatoria 5 5 Health centres 2 2 Recreation, leisure other institutions (excluding hostels) 2 2 Health institutions of 1-2 days stay – – Capacity of hotels and their analogues (people) 2361 2361 The number of suits in hotel and their analogues (apartments) 1158 1158 Source: Програма…, 2016. 60 Oresta Bordun, Liubov Althaim The demand for hotel services in many cities and districts of Ternopil oblast often far exceeds supply of the existing accommodation facilities. Acute fluc- tuations in demand for hotels occur during religious pilgrimages to the pilgrimage centres of the oblast i.e. Zarvanytsia, (Terebovlia District) and Pochaiv (Kremenets District). They also lack the capacity of accommodation establishments. Many local tourist centres (Kryvche, Kasperivtsi, Nyrkiv) have no hotel enterprises at all, while demand for their services here in the summer is quite high. According to the Central Statistical Office ac- commodation facilities received 138 435 people in Ternopil oblast during 2015. Most people used the services of accommodation in hotels 78 103 people, including 7 079 foreigners. However, at present there is insufficient number of budget hotels and hostels. The majority of trav- ellers and active tourists are people with low in- comes and, oddly enough, most hotel companies in our oblast are not focused on them. Ternopil oblast lacks quite popular among young people low-cost hostels, network of which is actively developing in other oblasts of Ukraine. Demand for hotel services in parts of the oblast can be seen in Fig. 2. As we can see the largest number of people used the services of accommodation in Ternopil (38 320) Kremenets (22 739) Borshchiv (3 381) and Zalish- chyky (3 532) districts. 58 hotels and similar accommodation facilities provided accommodation service in the oblast in 2015. Among them 14 legal entities and 44 individu- als, including 39 hotels, two motels, one hostel for visitors and 16 other places for temporary residence (http://www.te.ukrstat.gov.ua). The most common are hotels (67.2% of total), the others are tourist cen- tres, summer camps, seasonal recreation centres, summer houses, which offer a full range of services for reception, accommodation, food and other tem- porary accommodation facilities. In 2015, there were 12 specialized accommoda- tion facilities (0.6% of all specialized accommoda- tion facilities in Ukraine), including 8 health centres (including 5 for children), 2 health and recreation resorts and two recreation centres. There are health resorts centres: “Zbruch” and “Medobory” (now not operating) in Gusyatin, ophthalmologic centre “Barvinok” in village Manyuky of Zborivsky district, “Veselka” in the village Petrykiv of Ternopil region and “Medobory” in village Konopkivka of Terebovlia district. The largest share of people, which improved health, is 38б2% of the total and they did it in health resort centre “Medobory” (village Konopkivka, Ter- ebovlia district), 15,6% used “Barvinok” (village Mshanets of Zboriv area) and 13% — in the sanato- rium “Veselka” (village Petrykiv of Ternopil district). Public catering establishments. The restaurant business of Ternopil oblast includes: restaurants, bars, cafes, canteens, pizzerias and catering services. According to the Central Statistical Office at the be- ginning of 2015 there were about 1 800 institutions of restaurant industry in the Ternopil oblast. Most Fig. 2. Number of people received in Ternopil oblast during 2015 Source: Статистичний..., 2016. Tourist flows in Ternopil oblast current state and development prospects 61 of these facilities are concentrated in Ternopil; they count about 300 objects. A large number of cater- ing companies is also in Buchach, Kremenets and Terebovlia district. Least-developed restaurant busi- ness is located in Pidgaetskyi and Monastyrysk dis- tricts; there operate about two dozen in each. Most of public catering establishments operate in urban areas, but in recent years, they increase their num- ber and in rural areas. First of all many restaurant es- tablishments are opened in the villages located on the roads of international and national importance. In recent years the segment of specialized and con- ceptual institutions is actively developing in the market of restaurant services. Such enterprises are also being opened in Ternopil oblast. For example, there are beer pubs in Ternopil and nearby village Mykulyntsi of Terebovlia district. Brewery restaurant “Kovcheg” is the first environmental project in Terno- pil. It is partially secured with its own energy sources and designed using technologies applicable for old buildings. The museum restaurant “Stariy mlyn” in Ternopil is an original conceptual restaurant that surprises visitors not only with delicious food, but also with the unique interior. Modern restaurants and Ukrainian cuisine cafes, besides of Ternopil, have been opened in towns and villages of Zbarazh, Zborivsk, Husyatyn, Kremenets, Terebovlia and Ternopil districts. The issue of quality of products offered to travel- lers, individuals and organized tourist groups is very important. Large facilities of the hotel and restaurant busi- ness with a wide range of products and services have regular suppliers of raw materials, but most of catering establishments use products of their own farms and of surrounding villages. Entertainment facilities. Leisure facilities play an important role in creating tourist product for the young and older generation in the field of tourism market. Tourist route becomes more interesting when it is combined with sightseeing leisure ac- tivities. However, most entertainment centres are located in Ternopil, some are in Kremenets, Zalish- chyky, Husyatyn and Borshchiv districts. Please note that entertainment is an integral part of any tourism product. Entertainment facilities in the Ternopil oblast and the services they offer are presented in Table 3. Tab. 3. Entertainment facilities in Ternopil oblast Name entertainment venue Type of institution Location institution Services provided by the institution Alligator Hotel and recreation complex Ternopil Water park, fitness, aerobics, swim- ming pool, spa centre Podolyany Shopping and entertain- ment centre Ternopil Ice centre, bowling alley, cinema, billiards, etc. Somiy Okean Shopping and entertain- ment centre Ternopil Indoor water park Stara Pidkova Riding club Ternopil Horseback riding Eskimos Shopping and entertain- ment centre Ternopil Ice centre Maxim Entertainment complex Ternopil Karaoke pub, nightclub, restaurant Allure, Riverpool, Bomb Night clubs Ternopil Disco, karaoke Symphony  Hotel & entertainment complex urban type settlement Hu- siatyn, Husiatyn district Hotel, restaurant Orysya Tourist & hotel complex village Oryshkivtsi, Husiatyn district The hotel sauna, health-care com- plex “Rapa” Zatyshok Tourist & hotel complex Borschiv, Borshchiv district Restaurant, hotel, sauna, museum tavern Panorama Hotel & entertainment complex Kremenets, Kremenets district Hotel, restaurant and entertainment complex, bicycle rental, bobsleigh track Mishin City Tourist & hotel complex village Dobrovlyany, Zalish- chyky district Hotel, restaurant Oasis Hotel complex Zalischyky, Zalishchyky district Sauna, pool, gym Source: Own studies. 62 Oresta Bordun, Liubov Althaim Development of tourism market in the region is prevented with insufficient infrastructure, poor quality of tourist services and undeveloped domes- tic tourism products. Tourist industry in the oblast is in need of additional advertising. Particular atten- tion should be paid to creating a positive image of the oblast on the tourism market of the state and Europe; PR-technology should be used as well. The development of infrastructure and creation of favourable conditions for business tourism will have synergistic effect: jobs, pumping the regional budget, business activity stimulation and invest- ment attraction. 3. Analysis of tourist legislation in Ternopil oblast Regulation in the tourism sphere is done by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, central executive authorities, which pro- vide public policy in tourism and resorts, local state administration, local authorities and other bodies within their jurisdiction. Representative bodies of local self-government – village, town, city and regional councils under their authority approve local tourism development pro- gram; make local budgets fund the development of local tourism development programs; instruct its executive bodies to fund local programs for tourism development at the expense of the local budget; take measures to encourage business entities en- gaged in the provision of travel services (Закон…, 1995 p. 181). Tourism is an important factor of regional devel- opment as the principal amount of cultural heritage is concentrated in the small historic centres, which include almost all regional centres. Policies aimed at developing tourism in the regions are an integral part of public policy in the tourism sector and must meet all of the criteria. Today Ukraine has approved on August 1, 2013 the State Programme of Tourism and Resorts for the period until 2022 (Концепція…, 2013). The Program has its aim to create conditions to increase the flow of tourists a competitive tourism infrastructure de- veloped through rational use of tourism resources, which will increase revenues to budgets of all lev- els from the proceedings of tourism (Концепція..., 2013). In order to achieve a new level of tourism and recreation industry Ternopil oblast has created a competitive tourist product, which is called “The program of tourism development in the Ternopil oblast in 2016–2020 years” (Програма…, 2016). It notes that Ternopil oblast is a recognized tourist region positioned in Ukraine and abroad thanks to well-known brands such as “Dniester Canyon”, “Cas- tles of Ternopil”, “Caves of Ternopil oblast”, “Borshchiv embroidery”, “Buchach and Pinsel”, “Chervonohorod natural landmark” “Picturesque Berezhany”, “Medob- ory, Tovtry invite”. It also defines priority directions of tourism development in the oblast based on exist- ing tourism resources (Програма….., 2016). The program aims at: • development and implementation at the nation- al and international markets competitive tourism product able to meet the travel needs of area residents and their guests; • creation and development of logistics and mod- ern tourism infrastructure, of favourable condi- tions for investment, of efficient use of natural, historical and cultural tourist and recreational potential and ensuring conditions for full func- tioning of tourism; • improvement of the quality and range of tourist services, expansion of the network of tourist and excursion routes, the implementation of a system of advertisement and information activities, sup- port for inbound and domestic tourism, improve- ment of the staffing of the tourism industry in the region. This program is intended to be a conceptual basis for the development of tourism in the oblast as a highly profitable sector of the economy. Taking into ac- count the magnitude of the task, the program needs a strong funding from the state, regional, district and city budgets as well as extra-budgetary funds. The program is designed in accordance with current law and takes into account the basic requirements of laws of Ukraine “On Tourism” (Закон України «Про туризм» від 15.09.1995), “On foreign economic ac- tivity” (Закон України «Про зовнішньоекономічну діяльність» від 16.04.1991), “On local government in Ukraine” (Закон України «Про місцеве самовряду- вання в Україні» від 21.05.1997), “On innovation ac- tivity” (Закон України «Про інноваційну діяльність» від 04.07.2002), “On local state administrations” (За- кон України «Про місцеві державні адміністрації» Закон від 09.04.1999) and other legal acts govern- ing tourism and recreation industry in Ukraine. While program development there were defined following strategic objectives: Strategic goal A. Formation of regional tourism product of high-quality. Strategic goal B. Formation of an effective system of promoting tourism brand and integrated re- gional tourism product on the Ukrainian and in- ternational markets. Tourist flows in Ternopil oblast current state and development prospects 63 Strategic goal C. Formation of a favourable environ- ment for business and investment processes in the tourism and recreation industry in the region. 4. Conclusions Most of tourist enterprises of the Ternopil oblast are orientated on outbound tourism and offer foreign tours. However the domestic tourist product be- comes more popular lately. Touristic agencies develop excursion routes in territory of area, but very often tourists are beware of their services due to the shortage of information and advertisement. Advancement of tourist product of the Ternopil Region both on the internal and international markets of tourist services is impossible without the proper advertisement providing. It is a very effective constituent of the system of marketing communications and it needs considerable charges. Introduction of PR marketing communications in a tourist sphere is necessary pre-condition of it’s development. Not less important are objectivity of information, lightness of access and operationability of it receipt, plenitude, evidentness, possibility of interactive registration of orders and payment of services. An advertisement must answer the requirements of the tourist business, and also individual necessities of tourists and sightseers. 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