Development of a methodology for analyzing the level of digitalization in the tourism sector

The modern economic approach imposes the necessity of implementing digital transformation in most human activities. A high level of digitalization is a necessary condition for achieving maximum consumer satisfaction at the lowest cost and time, and achieving a high level of competitiveness and sustainable economic development. This approach updates a number of theoretical and practical issues in the field of methodology for studying digital transformation in the tourism industry. How-ever, there is still a need to study the implications of the digital transformation process in the long term. Many authors advocate the role of digital transformation and its positive effects on the tourism industry, advancing theses on the relationships between digital technologies and tourism development. This article aims to develop a methodology that can be used to analyze the level of digitalization of the tourism sector in regions by using the private digitalization index for regions and comparing it with the threshold values criterion for regional differentiation through a group of digital infrastructure indicators through which the level of digitalization of regions can be evaluated. Our main objectives are to study the importance of digital transformation for the tourism sector and to determine the role of integrating digital technologies into the tourism sector. By summarizing these results, we aim to prove the importance of having a methodology for analyzing the level of digitalization of regions before starting the digital transformation process in order to determine the point from which to start. Keywords: digital transformation; digitalization; tourism; digital infrastructure; private digitalization index for regions; North Caucasus Federal District.