Development of Festival Tourism in Europe in the Conditions of COVID-19 Pandemic
Students Name: Chikh Iryna Stepanivna
Qualification Level: magister
Speciality: Tourism
Institute: Viacheslav Chornovil Institute of Sustainable Development
Mode of Study: part
Academic Year: 2020-2021 н.р.
Language of Defence: ukrainian
Abstract: Chikh I. S., Ilnytska-Hykavchuk G. Y. (supervisior). Development of Festival Tourism in Europe in the Conditions of COVID-19 Pandemic. Master’s thesis. Lviv Polytechnic National University, Lviv, 2020. Extended abstract. The tourist and recreational industry, namely event tourism, is a sphere of economic and tourist activity that is developing quite dynamically. The main feature of event tourism – a lot of bright unique emotions and impressions [9]. Scientists who studied event tourism, including festival tourism, whose works aroused special interest within the chosen topic: A. Babkin, M. Birzhakov, Y. Blokhin, E. Bogdanova, D. Ismayev, M. Kabushkin, G. Karpova, V. Kvartalnov, A. Kirilov, O. Kostyuk, Y. Kuznetsova, M. Lindstrom, R. Ollie, H. Pringl, I. Smal, I. Shapovalova and others. The relevance of the study of this sphere, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and efficiency gains on the example of foreign countries developed in the field of event tourism, today is an extremely important issue and requires detailed analysis. The object of the master’s work is festival tourism and international organizations that hold festivals. The subject of the work is the development of festival tourism in the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of the master’s work is to analyze trends in events, including festival tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic, to characterize the subjects of festival activities and to make proposals for improving festival tours in the tourism market, in particular during the COVID-19 pandemic. Research results. Festival tourism is the organization of short cognitive trips for 5-7 days to attend certain events (from concerts of modern Western music to religious celebrations, from ethnic carnivals to parades of modern subcultures), with a frequency of once a year [10]. The festival is an extremely interesting type of recreation, as it can combine various programs, namely: music, education, health, environmental, sports, exhibition, programs in the style of “ethno”, etc. [7]. In today’s pandemic COVID-19 festival is one of the most important elements of development and self-organization of society, creative teams, professional groups, talented Ukrainian youth, children and adults. Today, there are a large number of international organizations, both abroad and in Ukraine, which both act as organizers of various types of festivals and organize tourist trips to international festivals [10]. A major role in the development and promotion of festival tourism belongs to tour operators; we can identify a leading tour operator, festival tourism which occupies 80% of tourist services – “Christofor-Tour”. Today, the travel company organizes tours to many countries around the world, but the main areas are the organization of group tour buses and air tours to Europe, including tours to international festivals in different countries [6]. Regarding the tourist activity of the operator during the COVID-19 pandemic, as for any other tourism entity, it is quite a difficult and difficult time and the number of tours at international festivals has decreased significantly due to restrictions or bans on entry to this or that country. The pandemic has had an extremely strong impact on event tourism management. However, since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, a large number of mass events and festivals have been held in countries where the number of coronavirus patients has not been high and our Ukrainian tourists have been allowed to enter [1]. Regarding important prospects for the development of event, in particular festival tourism in Ukraine, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, we offer: - to develop information letter for the tourist; - rebrand travel paper envelopes; - to play and hand over various gift certificates to collectives; - to develop souvenirs with the logo of the travel company “Christofor-Tour” (pen, magnet, mug, keychain, thermal mug, backpack, T-shirt, etc.); - to develop quizzes, games, competitions, quests, in compliance with all anti-epidemiological requirements; - hold offline festivals to comply with anti-epidemic requirements; - before the trip, we recommend all tourists to download the application “Friend” on a smartphone to be aware of the situation in a country; - all tour operators enter into agreements with Ukrainian laboratories that conduct PCR testing; - expand the geography of online festivals; - organizers to set stricter requirements for the quality and creativity of recorded videos submitted for online festivals; - hold an online festival on various modern online platforms. Thus, festival tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic slowed down in its development, but thanks to organizations that promote this type of tourism, it develops and enjoys popularity among Ukrainian creative teams. However, to improve and enhance this wonderful type of tourism, a number of aspects have been proposed that need to be implemented during the organization of an online or offline festival and thus, festival tours will be held at a high level and move to a higher level in their development and promotion. Key words: event tourism, festival tourism, festival, festival organizations, tour operator “Christofor-Tour”, pandemic COVID-19. References. 1. Innovative tourism 2020 [Electronic resource]. – Access mode: httр: //рокрovsk.инфо/. 2. Kifyak V. Organization of tourism activity in Ukraine [Text] / V. Kifyak. Chernivtsi: Zelena Bukovyna, 2003. 312 p. 3. Culture and tourism in terms of COVID-19 [Electronic resource]. Access mode: http://dialog.lviv.ua/kultura-i-turizm-v-umovah-covid-19-novi-realiyi 4. Prospects of event tourism in Ukraine [Electronic resource]. Access mode: http: //www.tоurbus.ru/ 5. Smal I. Tourism resources of the world. Nizhyn: Nizhyn State University. 2010. 336 p. 6. Tour operator “Christophor-Tour" [Electronic resource]. Access mode: http://www.xt.lviv.ua/index.html. 7. Festival tourism [Electronic resource]. Access mode: file: /// C: / User / iro4k / Downloads / 124992-266416-1SM% 20 (1) .pdf 8. Shkola I. Management of the tourism industry: textbook / I. Shkola. Chernivtsi: Books XXI, 2005. 596 p. 9. How the world saves the tourism industry [Electronic resource]. Access mode: https://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-tourism/3090351-karantin-ak-svit-ratue-turisticnu-galuz.html 10. Festival [Electronic resource]. Access mode: httр: //еn.wіkіреndіа.оrg/wіkі/Fеstіvаl