The regional features of the tour operators services market development in the Volga Federal District during the pandemic
Abstract. During the period of 2020 the market for tour operator services was significantly affected due to the pandemic caused by the spread of COVID-19. The impact of restrictive measures has affected regional tourism markets in different ways. The relevance of the study is due to the need to assess the economic consequences of the impact of the pandemic on the market of tour operator services in the regions of the Volga Federal District. The article assesses the change in the market of tour operator services in the regions of the Volga Federal District from 2015 to 2020. During the study, the Herfindahl-Hirschman index, the concentration index, the rate of change in the revenue of tour operators were calculated. The information base of the study was statistical data from the Audit-it website, the Unified Federal Register of Tour Operators. Based on the data on changes in the revenue of regional tour operators, a matrix of typology of the regions of the Volga Federal District was built according to the indicators of the functioning of the tour operator services market. The regions of the Volga Federal District were divided into three groups: regions with a monopolistic market, regions with an oligopolistic market, and regions with a competitive market. By comparing the statistical results of the activities of tour operators, regions with the most stable dynamics and low revenue for the period 2015-2020 were identified: the Kirov region, the Republic of Udmurtia, the Ulyanovsk region, the Saratov region, the Republic of Bashkortostan.
Keywords: COVID-19, pandemic, Volga Federal District, tour operator, Herfindahl-Hirschman index, monopolistic market, competitive market, concentration index
Highlights:
♦ the safe tours trend within the regions will prevail in the near future;
♦ the COVID-19 pandemic has had a different impact on the development of regional tour operator markets. The negative effects of the pandemic are best countered by monopoly markets;
♦ there was an increase in the monopolization of tour operator markets in 2020. The Herfindahl-Hirschman index increased in 9 regions of the Volga Federal District.
Evgeniy V. Konyshev, Perm State National Research University, Perm, Russia, Alevtina A. Veprikova, Vyatka State University, Kirov, Russia, Alyona I. Smetanina, Vyatka State University, Kirov, Russia