Tourism development as a factor of forming positive image of Donbass

Complicated political events that are equivocally considered in the world in 2014 led to the proclamation the sovereignty of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR). DPR was allocated from the Donetsk region, the largest region of Ukraine on the population. To date, DPR is unrecognized by any of the states members of UN political entity that is located in the area of military-political conflict. Political settlement of the military and political conflict in Donbass, prescribed in “Minsk agreements”, provides de facto political subjectivity of territories that now are within DPR (or as autonomy as part of Ukraine, either as a sovereign state entity). Overall, therefore, the political and geographical space of DPR can be perceived as established political subjectivity, and it deserves its detailed study in terms of capacity and opportunities of the tourism development. Region in nominal boundaries of DPR has a significant tourism and recreational potential, which deserves careful study and engagement in the sphere of tourist activity. Most tourist destinations that have previously formed the tourist potential of the Donetsk region have remained in the territory of Ukraine. Against the background of breaking many economic and social relations there is the necessity to reformat the tourism environment of the region, increase tourism attractiveness in the future, which becomes a factor of forming positive image of the territory. The article first formulates preconditions of tourist attractiveness of the DPR, including the industrial power, recreational wealth, intellectual potential, diversity of natural resources of the region. The authors denote the problems of tourism development in the DPR, in particular, the imperfection of the legal framework regulating relations in the sphere of tour- ism; considerable damage in the fighting, moral and physical deterioration of the preserved tourist infrastructure; low quality of services in all parts of the tourism sector; preservation of the image of the DPR as a region, unfavorable for tourism. Identified problems, the creation of favorable conditions for the formation of an effective competitive tourism market are reflected in the elaborated Concept of tourism development in DPR. In order to achieve the goal that set in the Concept, it is necessary to solve a number of problems, which are listed. Among them, a regional tourist policy has a certain place. It should be directed to the protection of the rights of tourists, the interests of producers of the tourist product, the full support of domestic tourism through direct investments to the development of material resources and tourism infrastructure, human resources, research and advertising and information provision tourism. Effective tourist complex, which would meet the needs of the population and would serve as a factor strengthening the authority of the DPR in the international arena, can be obtained as a result of implementation of this policy.