Functioning of rural tourism clusters as a tool of development of Ukrainian regions

The article is devoted to the search for effective tools for regional development by studying the processes of formation and development of rural tourism clusters in Ukraine and trends in the tourism industry in general, as well as finding optimal tools for regional development. The purpose of the publication is to study the theoretical and methodological approaches to finding directions for regional development through the formation of rural tourism clusters in Ukraine. The methodological tools of the research methods were the analysis of scientific literature and points of view of foreign and domestic specialists of cluster policy in the tourism industry. The study also used analytical data from the World Travel and Tourism Council and the National Tourism Organization of Ukraine. In the course of organizing and conducting the research, general scientific and special methods such as analysis, synthesis, comparison were used, while identifying destructive factors influencing the state and development of rural tourism. The study empirically confirms and theoretically proves that cluster policy is the most effective and appropriate in the development of rural tourism in the region. With the help of the structural-logical method the vision of introduction of modern tools of development of regions in the conditions of pandemic spread is presented. The content and significance of rural tourism in the development of the regions of Ukraine are considered. The content of the researched definitions is determined, the approaches of the process of formation and development of rural tourism clusters are generalized and formulated. The object of research is the processes of clustering of tourist entities in rural areas. It is determined that the main tool for the development of the regions of Ukraine is the cooperation of rural economic entities. One of such areas of cooperation is the formation and development of tourism clusters. It has been proven that cluster policy is successful and has spread in almost all countries of the world. Today in Ukraine there are no state programs for cluster development, and there is no single representative office - a representative of clusters of Ukraine. The proposed directions of development of Ukraine's regions through the formation and development of rural tourism clusters are the leading tools of regional development, which will quickly overcome the effects of the pandemic, promote socio-economic growth and integration of regional tourism products and services into the global tourism market