Regional Tourism Cooperation Mechanism

Abstract

This study was aimed to form an approach for regional tourism cooperation based on the mechanism for diagnosing the polarization of the tourism market. The research methodology was grounded on the categorization of the markets of the world’s tourist regions, territorial structuring and hierarchization of the world tourism space in the context of polarization, and the formation of regional cooperation orbitals. This allowed distinguishing the countries forming the core and periphery of the global tourism market in 2019–2020 and thus determining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on this sector’s development. As indicated by the study results, in 2020, the majority of the analyzed states (and all regions, in fact) belonged to the deep periphery. In turn, the core of the world tourism space was formed by the states of Europe, the United States, and China. The scenarios for cooperation of countries and regions under the developed orbitals were defined as effective in ensuring success and increasing the competitiveness of the tourism sector. The created orbitals allow one to analyze the country’s position in the global tourism market, determine possible cooperation partners, and explore strategic development trajectories.