MANAGEMENT OF INNOVATIVE PROJECTS IN TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY BUSINESS: ADAPTATION TO CRISIS INSTABILITY

Abstract

The article investigates the management of innovative projects in Ukraine's tourism and hospitality business under conditions of prolonged military instability and accelerating digital transformation. The relevance of the study stems from a fundamental shift in the sector's functional role: alongside its conventional recreational and economic functions, tourism and hospitality enterprises in wartime increasingly perform social stabilization functions, supporting internally displaced persons, humanitarian missions, and international organizations, while sustaining employment, fiscal revenues, and local economic resilience. The purpose of the research is to substantiate, theoretically and empirically, the mechanisms of forming, implementing, resourcing, and scaling innovative projects and startups in the hospitality industry amid crisis-driven uncertainty.

The empirical analysis draws on fiscal statistics for the first half of 2026, revealing sustained sectoral recovery: tax revenues from accommodation and tourism services (KVED 55 and 79) reached UAH 2,295.8 million, a 17.6% year-on-year increase, accompanied by a 10.2% and 7.8% expansion of registered taxpayers, respectively – evidence of partial de-shadowing of the market. Tourist tax receipts grew by 22.6% to UAH 174.85 million, confirming a stable upward trajectory since 2022. The study further systematizes the largest investment projects implemented in 2023–2026, including GORO Mountain Resort, Aqua City, WOL.GREEN Polyana, and the Bukovel resort infrastructure expansion, demonstrating a pronounced geographic concentration of capital in western Ukraine amid lower security risks.

A significant contribution of the paper lies in identifying the ongoing transformation of hotel asset management models, characterized by a functional separation between real estate ownership and professional hotel operation, which redistributes project risk across the asset's life cycle. Concurrently, the research identifies critical constraints to innovation-driven development, namely: personnel shortages, rising capital expenditures on energy autonomy, and cost-of-service inflation amid inelastic domestic demand. The findings substantiate the need for adaptive project-management frameworks tailored to the specific operating conditions of the hospitality sector during wartime and post-war recovery, and outline directions for further research into resource provision, commercialization mechanisms, and public–private partnership models supporting small tourism enterprises.