Analyzing the effectiveness of tourist flows based on the assessment of tourism's contribution to the regional economy

Abstract

Subject. The article investigates the effectiveness of tourist flows. Objectives. The aim is to study the problem of assessing the effectiveness of tourism, considering the existing economic potential, the volume of tourist flows, achievements and challenges in the domestic tourism development for effective and efficient management of the industry. Methods. We employed methods of systems, comparative, logical, and statistical analysis. Results. We devised a methodology to calculate the specific value added and analyzed it for Russia’s regions. The findings can be used to monitor the level of tourism development and elaborate strategic planning documents for domestic tourism development in regions. Conclusions. The existing methodology for calculating the tourism industry contribution to the economy of regions makes it possible to use its indicators as a tool for assessing the effectiveness of the tourist flow based on specific gross value added (GVA) of the tourism industry by region. Our calculations show that there is a significant variation in the specific GVA of the tourism industry in the subjects of the Russian Federation, due to the peculiarities of the methodology and differences in the economic and climatic development of the regions. The analysis of the obtained specific GVA of the tourism industry enables to highlight several groups of regions to determine the possible size and direction of tourist flows, taking into account their economic efficiency. The findings may be helpful for formulating recommendations to evaluate the effectiveness of tourism development, when regional and federal strategic planning documents are elaborated.