ПЕРСПЕКТИВЫ РАЗВИТИЯ ТУРИЗМА В МУНИЦИПАЛЬНЫХ ОБРАЗОВАНИЯХ РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ ГЛАЗАМИ НАСЕЛЕНИЯ

Abstract

Introduction: the financial constraints of local budgets stimulate the local authorities to search for new opportunities in promoting the tourist attractiveness of the territories. The need to involve local communities into the management practices of tourism develop- ment raises the importance of the study into motivation and assessments of the residents and their readiness to interact with authorities in the sphere of tourism. Objectives: to determine the prospects for tourism development in the Russian Federation municipalities based on the analysis of the population opinions and assessments. Methods: questionnaire survey of the Russian municipalities’ residents. The final sample, spontaneously selected, included municipalities from 28 Russian regions. Results: the obtained results illustrate the confidence of the majority of respondents (64.7 %) in the possibility of attracting tourists to their town / rural settlement. Despite such optimistic opinions, 2/3 of the respondents (66.8 %) believe that promoting tourist attractiveness is a secondary task (the urgent needs to address being hospitals, roads, communal services, etc.). According to those interviewed, the key instruments of tourism development are the tourist infrastructure modernization (49.8 %), creating attractive tourist sites (45.1 %), improving the urban environment quality” (44.8 %). Conclusions: the results of the study showed a contradiction between the public opinion recognition of tourism as the basis for the financial recovery of the territory on the one hand, and the attitude to the costs of developing this industry as irrational due to the presence of unsolved social problems – on the other. The respondents support to the need of involving local residents into building the tourist attractiveness of the territory can be considered a potential opportunity for a wider use of social resources in the local communities and the internal sources of territorial development (traditions, authenticity of cultural patterns, historical heritage, etc.). According to the respondents, tourism development tools are associated with traditional practices that require significant financial investments: the development of tourism infrastructure and tourist attraction sites. Creative ideas on branding the territory or organizing inter-municipal cooperation received less support.