ESSENCE AND CONCEPT OF TOURISM CLUSTERING

Abstract

Currently, the tourism industry is actively forming innovative approaches to the territorial-branch organization of
economic entities based on the cluster principle. Under the conditions of an indefinite influence of the external
environment, it is necessary to ensure the viability and economic efficiency of the functioning of tourist clusters.
Theoretical developments in the field of tourism reveal gaps that impede the effective implementation of the cluster
approach in the tourism industry of the Republic of Belarus. It brings to the fore the goal of a clear understanding of the
tourist cluster concept and the characteristics of its formation and functioning.

The application of the cluster approach in relation to the Belarusian tourism industry can be viewed as an
innovative management technology that allows to increase the competitiveness of both a separate tourist destination and
the industry as a whole.

The basis of the research methodology is the works revealing the cluster concept essence of foreign and domestic
authors. Particular attention is paid to the ideas of creating an industrial cluster by A. Marshall, M. Porter. The application of
the cluster concept in tourism is considered by M. Novelli, T. Spencer, S. Nordin, A. Alexandrova, M. Voinarenko,
M. Morozova, T. Lvova, N. Martyshenko, A. Dunts and others. The problems of the creation and functioning of tourist
clusters in the Republic of Belarus are the works by T. Vertinskaya, V. Klitsunova and A. Tarasenok.

The article discusses the essence and concept of tourism cluster. A comparative description of the tourist cluster
definitions of various authors is given, the distinctive features of the tourist cluster are identified. The author reviewed
the definitions of the tourist cluster proposed in the regulatory legal acts of the Republic of Belarus, the Russian
Federation and the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Table. 1. Ref.: 22 titles.