Creativity as a basis for rural tourism development strategy

The subject of the study is creativity as a component of tourism development strategy. The aim is to study the socio-cultural development of Ukrainian society for creativity and to identify its directions in rural tourism development strategies. The set of methods, principles and techniques of scientific knowledge was used: a) systematic approach method - when considering creativity as a system consisting of a certain number of interrelated elements; b) comparative analysis - in the study of trends in the development of socio-cultural sphere; c) a scientific abstraction method - to highlight the strong, typical links between socio-cultural development and creativity. The socio-cultural development of Ukrainian society as a potential producer of creative ideas has been investigated. The general tendencies of development of creative sectors of economy are determined. Models of relations between creative industries and the rest of the economy are considered. The creative industry has been linked to the rural economy's impression economy. Problems of development of socio-cultural sector of rural territories of Ukraine are outlined and analyzed. The directions of changing the paradigm of perception of rural settlements in relation to their reorientation to tourist activity are determined. It is established that successful implementation of a rural development strategy is not possible without a creative component that will help to form an innovative tourism product and attract new consumers. The indicators of creativity that are necessary for the formation of rural tourism development strategy are presented. Directions for positive change in rural communities have been identified. The results of the study may be the direction of developing an effective national strategy for rural development, based on creative ideas and involvement of creative sectors, which will ultimately be a social effect of the proposals.