TOURISM BRANDING OF THE DNIESTER RIVERSIDE DISTRICTS IN THE CHERNIVTSI REGION (CASE STUDY OF THE KELMENTSI DISTRICT)

Purpose of the study: To characterize the tourism branding of the Kelmentsi District of the Chernivtsi Region. To analyze the main key components of recreational and tourism-oriented environmental management in the studied area. Methodology: The methodology is formed by applying general scientific methods of analysis and synthesis of information, statistical methods of analysis to reveal the structure of tourism branding. In order to provide a detailed presentation of recreational and tourism resources and to form tourism branding, the principle of spatial analysis and synthesis was used. Results: A constructive-geographical analysis of the recreational and tourism-oriented environmental management of the Kelmentsi District of the Chernivtsi Region was carried out, revealing the influence of objective factors on the formation of tourism branding, such as natural, historical and cultural, socio-economic, and environmental ones. A significant recreational and tourism potential of the Kelmentsi District is observed due to natural (the Dniester River valley), historical and cultural (archaeological, sacred), and infrastructural (private estates, recreation centers) resources and sites. It has been established that the most active types of tourism are educational, water-based, and speleological. The majority of tourists and recreationists actively use the riverside complexes, along which tourist routes have been developed. A number of tourism companies that serve both domestic and foreign tourists are developing and continue to operate, which allows for the coordination of efforts at the district and regional levels in recreational and tourism policy, contributing to the formation of a systematic information base for decision-making in the field of recreational and tourism-oriented environmental management of the Chernivtsi Region. Scientific novelty: The scientific novelty of the conducted research lies in the comprehensive analysis of natural, historical and cultural, and infrastructural recreational and tourism resources of the Kelmentsi District, and in outlining the key issues that form the tourism branding of the territory. The peripheral geographical location of the studied area, which significantly affects the active use of the territory in the recreational and tourism sphere of the region and Ukraine as a whole, is characterized. Practical significance: The practical significance of the conducted study lies in a comprehensive analysis of the recreational and tourism sector of the district and in the development of a set of recommendations that emphasize the importance and significance of recreational and tourism-oriented environmental management in the Kelmentsi District. Tourism branding, as a multifactorial component, significantly depends on the socio-economic, political, and religious situation and requires regulation based on the monitoring of recreational and tourism-oriented environmental management, which is a part of both the internal and international policy of Ukraine and the region under study.