Strategic diagnosis of public governance factors in the development of the regional tourism sector

<jats:p>The article improves the methodological approach to the strategic diagnosis of public governance factors influencing the development of the regional tourism sector. It tests it using the Carpathian region of Ukraine. The study is relevant because security, institutional, infrastructural, digital, environmental, and market-competitive factors increasingly shape tourism activity, requiring a shift from descriptive analysis to prioritizing public management decisions. The research applies systemic, comparative and structural approaches, content analysis, an expanded PESTLE logic, desk research, indicator-based assessment and matrix positioning. Strategic factors are assessed by four criteria: the strength of potential impact, the urgency of management response, the persistence of influence, and the controllability by regional and local public authorities. The Strategic Priority Index and an “impact–controllability” matrix are proposed to distinguish active management, adaptation and resilience measures, development activation and monitoring. The approach is tested in the Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Zakarpattia, and Chernivtsi regions. The results reveal a high concentration of tourism activity and internal asymmetry between regions and local communities. Security, infrastructure and spatial development, environmental sustainability, digitalization, institutional coordination and market competitiveness are identified as priority diagnostic blocks. The scientific novelty lies in incorporating controllability into strategic tourism diagnostics and linking factor assessment with a public governance response. The approach can be used in regional strategies, tourism development programs, recovery plans, and monitoring systems to substantiate differentiated policy priorities for regions. Keywords: strategic diagnosis, public governance, tourism sector, Carpathian region, strategic factors, competitiveness, regional development, management decisions.</jats:p>