MODERN APPROACHES TO THE CONCEPT AND ESSENCE OF TOURIST SERVICES IN THE CONTEXT OF DIGITALIZATION

Abstract

The artile is devoted to the consideration of modern theoretical and methodological approaches to the concept and essence of the category "tourist services" based on the systematization of legislative and regulatory documents, the works of domestic economists, and the author's own research. A critical analysis of the reviewed economic literature has revealed the fundamental theoretical and methodological approaches to the interpretation of the category "tourist service" (subjective, effective, systemic, structural, complex, etc.), embedded in the author's proposed model of the formation of tourist services, taking into account the processes of digitalization. The conducted research has made it possible to substantiate the main characteristics of the essence of tourist services based on the theory of utility with the allocation of three groups of market entities: tourists, entities providing tourist services, the state as a regulator of the tourism sector and to present the author's position on the composition and interaction of the main entities of the ecosystem of tourist services at the basic, additional and controlling levels. The final stage of the research is the author's definition of the category "tourist services" based on subjective, ecosystem approaches using utility theory, which allows us to develop appropriate methodological approaches to the study.