Military tourism as a peculiarity of tourism development in a post-conflict territory

Abstract


 
 
 
 One peculiarity of tourism development in the post-conflict territories of the Ukraine-controlled part of Donetsk and Luhansk regions is the possibility of development of military tourism and this is the urgent problem considered in the proposed article. The relevance of the article lies in the possibility of exploiting the existing negative factors in certain eastern territories and turning them into a source of interest and a point of no return. Military tours can have an enormous educational and instructive value both for the younger generation and for all people’s understanding of what conflict situations can lead to. The aim of the work is to develop proposals for the creation of innovative military tours as a feature of post-conflict tourism development in the affected area. General scientific methods, namely analytical, comparative-geographical, historical and marketing analysis are applied. World experience in organizing military tourism was analyzed and some recommendations for organizing such tours in Ukraine, and particularly in Luhansk and Donetsk regions, were revealed. The author’s classification of possible military tours in our country is offered. Recommendations on development of military tours to Ukraine are formed. Ukraine-controlled parts of Luhansk and Donetsk regions are evaluated as potentially promising areas for military tourism development. We have suggested specific tourist locations for creating military tours and developed proposals for creating innovative military tours as a feature of post-conflict tourism development in the affected areas in Ukraine’s eastern regions. The organizational mechanism of creating and promoting military tours on the tourism market on the example of the eastern territories of Ukraine has been studied. It is determined that military tours in the post-conflict times can become one of the promising directions of economic development of the eastern regions of Ukraine. The key provisions, factual material and conclusions of the article can be used for further research into the process of tourism development in Luhansk and Donetsk regions in order to develop the national tourism industry. In the future, similar tours may be developed throughout the region after the reintegration process.