MARKETING RESEARCH OF YOUTH CONSUMER BENEFITS IN THE TOURISM INDUSTRY

Abstract

One of the key positions in the business world is tourism, as one of the fast-est growing sources of profit in the organization of travel. At the same time, the clients of travel agencies choose trips for holidays or for educational purposes, in which they lay down an «individual route» of travel. This article addresses the problems of youth tourism in Ukraine. The reasons of urgency of active rest, territorial favorable conditions for its development are revealed. The authors conducted a marketing study of the demand for recreation and travel among young people in the form of an online survey. The parameters of tourism that attract students to travel and the restraining parameters of youth travel across Ukraine are identified, ways of modernization of «youth tourism» are suggested. On the basis of the conducted research, the main directions of recreation for young people were proposed: excursions related to local history and history of Ukraine; trips to mountain monuments and waterfalls; entertaining-themed tours. For each youth tourism destination, the offers of tour operators and Ukrainian agencies presented on their sites were analyzed. It is determined that the current trends in tourism marketing include: changes in the behavior of consumers of tourist services, among which are the individualization of demand, greening thinking, changing the frequency and duration of travel; the spread of relationship marketing; being an integral part of the modern internet marketing travel business; computerization and technologicalisation of the tourist business; at the national level, marketing of tourism promotion in Ukraine and falling demand for tourist services are not effective enough. The analysis made it possible to identify the range of tours for young people, price indicators and factors that influence the increase or decrease of expenses for active rest: the number of the group, the distance of the rest place, the duration of the excursion program and the safety of tourists. Conducted marketing research for a special type of travel, such as «youth tourism», revealed the requirements of travel consumers to organize travel in Ukraine, determine the frequency and regularity of travel; time students are willing to spend on tourism. The study found that most students are interested in excursions related to local history and history of Ukraine, mountain monuments and waterfalls, as well as entertainment and themed tours. In connection with this, it is possible to expand tourist offers aimed at youth tourism.