Development of the theoretical foundations of a «smart economy», its impact on economic, scientific and technological specialization of the region, and therefore on its performance, competitive ability and economic growth is an important task. This article describes the concept of smart specialization of the regions, which aims to identify measures to incentives to efficiently, systemically develop the economy by using creativity, innovative human-specific skills capital information and communication technologies. For the sustainable development of the economy, Ukraine needs objective methods for distributing budget financing by regions. But in the circumstances of limited financial resources, the funds allocation between regions should be carried out according to clear criteria and priorities. In the context of increased integration with the European Union, attention should be paid to the innovative approaches used in international practice, methods and tools for distributing the financing of economic entities. Today, one of the most innovative approaches is the smart specialization of European regions, which is also used by European structural and investment funds. According to this approach, the economic policy of the central government in the regional context should take into account the unique opportunities for the development and growth of a particular region, its competitive advantages, its priority areas for development and investment, innovative orientation, the possibilities of a cross-sectoral approach, etc. The Odessa region, along with other regions of Ukraine, was chosen as a pilot for testing and disseminating the experience of introducing smart specialization tools in a regional development strategy. According to the analysis of the types of economic activity in the region, it turned out that such traditional Odessa niches as transport and tourism, were not included in the list of the most competitive and efficient ones. The most negative aspect is the fact that even such a promising and potentially efficient business activity as cruise tourism can remain without state support if the enterprises of this sector do not choose a course of transparency, innovation and social responsibility.