IMPROVING THE COMPETITIVENESS OF ENTERPRISES IN THE SPHERE OF HOSPITALITY ПІДВИЩЕННЯ КОНКУРЕНТОСПРОМОЖНОСТІ ПІДПРИЄМСТВ СФЕРИ ГОСТИННОСТІ

With the development of the market mechanism, the problem of competitiveness of the hotel industry has sharpened. In the conditions of constantly growing competition, hotel enterprises need to increase their competitive advantages, actively seek the ways and methods of improving their competitiveness. In this work, the issue of developing measures to increase the competitiveness of an enterprise in the hotel services market is being investigated. It also highlights the role of competitiveness in the effective functioning of hotel enterprises, defines the essence of this scientific category, analyzes the methods for assessing competitiveness, suggests ways to improve the competitiveness of the hotel industry. The essence of competitiveness is investigated, the maintenance of competitive advantages of the hotel enterprise and factors of their formation are defined. The main strategic approaches to increase the competitiveness of the hotel business are presented.

Formulation of the problem. Hotel enterprises are the material basis of the tourism industry and have a huge potential for sustainable income in the state budget. Effective development of hotel enterprises is a strategically important area for tourism. As an element of infrastructure, the hotel industry reflects the arrangement of social space within the city, cultural and business facilities and production. The activity of hotel enterprises contributes to the strengthening of social ties, turning them into a system of integration processes with the implementation of socio-cultural exchange and the development of a culture of knowledge.
Despite the large number of factors that affect the competitiveness of the enterprise, its ability to produce quality products or services and create favorable conditions for their promotion on the market remains decisive.
The desire of hotel enterprises to achieve commercial success necessitates increasing of the competitiveness of services provided by comprehensively solving the problem by improving the activities of all hierarchical units and departments of the hotel. This opinion is confirmed in the research of I.V. Bagrova and O.G. Nefedova, who believes that preference should not be given to individual factors, so the components of competitiveness formulate this state as a whole, and not taking into account the individual components can reduce the capacity of the enterprise [1].
The market of hospitality services is open and competitive, it has significant pressure on the hotel industry, forcing it to constantly improve the quality of its services [2]. Given this, one of the most important areas of hotel management is the search for effective strategic solutions to ensure the competitiveness of services. Setting the goal of the article. The purpose of the study is to develop measures that will increase the competitiveness of enterprises in the hospitality market.
Presentation of the main research material. First of all, it should be noted that there is currently no scientifically sound and generally accepted definition of "competitiveness". Despite the different approaches to defining the essence of the concept, all researchers note the comparative and temporal (dynamic) nature of this indicator.
Comparative nature means that competitiveness is not a specific phenomenon to a particular object (country, industry, enterprise, product or service). It does not come from its inner nature, but manifests itself only when comparing this object with others. The result of this comparison is determination of the level of competitiveness.
Temporal nature (dynamism) means that the level of competitiveness achieved by an object in a certain period of time cannot be considered as a long-term characteristic of its market position, regardless of the efficiency of activity. Opposition of other business entities, determination and activity of their competitive strategies can lead to the loss of the achieved position and reduce the level of competitiveness [3].
Competitiveness is a complex multi-level concept, the analysis and evaluation of which must be most closely linked to its specific level.
For our study, it is important to distinguish the competitiveness of the enterprise as a ЕКОНОМІКА complex economic category. Because the concept of competitiveness is associated with the definition of the nature and role of competition which are caused by a number of key problems of economic activity. The company's ability to compete in a particular market directly depends on the competitiveness of the product, a set of socio-economic and organizational factors, as well as methods of enterprise's activities that affect the results of competition. Recently, the "formative" competition aimed at finding ways for competitors to cooperate in sales and marketing (eg, creating joint offers for hotel customers from competing groups located in different cities) is becoming more widespread in the hotel services market [4].
The hospitality industry is characterized by a high degree of competition, dependence on seasonality, natural, general political and other external factors. Conditions of development of the hotel services' market, complexity of work on it are dictated also by features of functioning of the hotel enterprises.
The economic essence of hotel activity is intangible. Hotel companies offer their product to the market in the form of a service, the production of which involves the consumer. Thus, the initial element in the interpretation of the term "competitiveness of the hotel industry" can be considered as the preferences and choices of consumers of hotel services. Competitiveness is the key to a successful transition from customization to personalization of customer experience.
Competitiveness of the enterprise is reached at productive and faultless work in the market and reliable reputation. The company, which operates in a market for a long period of time, has significant competitive advantages over an enterprise that only enters that market or operates in it for a short period of time.
According to I.I. Dakhno, competitive advantages are the assets, which are owned by the company and help to win the competition [5].
L.V. Balabanova believes that the company's strengths are those that provide an advantage over competitors and are important for the target market. The scientist identifies three main competitive advantages, noting the decisive role of marketing in their formation: organizational, functional, those which are based on the relationship with the external environment [6].
Organizational benefits include: -marketing experience; -organizational structure of marketing management, conditions of effective interaction of marketing service with other structural divisions.

Functional benefits include performance indicators in marketing functions:
-knowledge of consumers, their demands and preferences in terms of target markets; -competitiveness of goods (services), efficient distribution, effective sales policy, flexible pricing policy, effective communication policy, etc.
Advantages based on relations with the external environment are based on the formed relations of optimal interaction with both macro-environmental factors (political, organizational, economic structures, social bodies, etc.) and micro-environment factors (consumers, suppliers, marketing intermediaries, other contact audiences) [6].
Thus, competitive advantages are the strengths of the enterprise, which provide an advantage over competitors and are attractive to the target market.
It should be noted that increasing of the competitiveness of hotel enterprises is primarily associated with the possibility of its evaluation. At this stage, there is no generally accepted method of assessing the competitiveness of the organization.
In developed countries, most common methods are methods are specific economic and quantitative in nature. They are based on a systematic analysis of the enterprise, reflecting its activities on all leading parameters (including analysis of resource efficiency and profitability, analysis of the sustainability of the organization, etc.).
In our opinion, the use of such a system of indicators to identify the level of competitiveness of the hotel is not entirely acceptable, because most of the estimated basic information is a trade secret of enterprises. It is more effective in domestic business conditions to base the assessment of the level of competitiveness of the hotel on such indicators as quality, price, level of service, image, etc. [7].
The competitiveness of hotel enterprises should be assessed comprehensively by all criteria and areas of activity, therefore, it is possible to use several methods simultaneously.
It is also important to assess the hotel market as a competitive environment of the hotel company: its capacity, level of competition and so on. To analyze the state of the hotel services market, the index method is widely used, based on the calculation of special indicators and their comparison. The most important indicators are the coefficient of occupancy and the average room rate. These indicators are a necessary basis for calculating the relevant indices.
The main recommendations for solving problems in the field of competitiveness of hotel services are: 1. development of organizational and economic mechanism of territorial quality management of hotel services; 2. formation of a unified system of state quality control of these services; 3. introduction of international standards and other normative documents into the hotel management system; 4. organization of the system of education and advanced trainings on management of the hotel industry [8].
In our opinion, this will allow us to provide quality services, and in the current environment it is a necessary tool to ensure efficient operation and to strengthen the level of competitiveness.
To improve the quality and culture of customer service, as well as competitiveness in the global hotel services market, enterprises must have not only a high level of comfort, but also a wide range of additional services. It is advisable to organize hotel service not on the principle of demand, but on the principle of supply.
It should be noted that the driving force of competition is an incentive for innovation. Due to innovative solutions it is possible to improve the quality of services, improve their useful effect, expand the range of offers, thereby forming effective competitive advantages.
Conclusions. In today's market conditions, the main goal of the hotel industry is to achieve a competitive advantage in the long run, which will provide a high level of profit and stable economic growth. Thus, based on the above, it can be argued that competitiveness is the most important factor in ensuring the effective and profitable development of the enterprises in the hospitality industry. This category determines the ability of hotel enterprises to operate not only in the current financial, economic and political conditions, but also during the financial and economic crisis. Therefore, the development of measures to increase competitiveness is strategically necessary and involves a set of measures for the systematic improvement of services, the constant search for new types of advertising, new groups of potential customers, service improvement and more.
Thus, in the hotel industry it is necessary to implement more effective and advanced personnel management systems that will overcome the above stages with maximum results.