Management and Prospects for the Development of Cultural Tourism in the Sea of Azov Region

Abstract

The cultural potential of the Sea of Azov region for the development of cultural tourism is analysed. There are three groups of cultural resources of the region: 1) objects of cultural material heritage and museum resources; 2) objects of intangible cultural heritage; 3) festival and event resources. The institutional capacity and attendance of the museum cluster of the Azov region are illustrated. A SWOT-analysis of the resources for the development of cultural tourism in the Azov region is conducted. The main problems and challenges of development of the tourist sector of the Sea of Azov region are identified: short tourism season; lack of information about the cultural potential of the Azov Sea region; unused cultural and historical resource; focus on budget beach holidays; non-perception by the inhabitants of the Azov region as a cultural center («inferiority complex»); low level of hospitality and service; unformed cultural tourism product; lack of tourist information centers, as well as authentic souvenirs, guides, navigation and pointers to cultural sites; unformed museum network and museum infrastructure; lack of conference seats to meet the needs of the industrial region; lack of quality unique festivals and large-scale interesting events for tourists, etc. The need to use significant cultural resources of the Sea of Azov region to increase the tourism attractiveness of the region is substantiated. Variants of cultural products of the Sea of Azov region are given: 1) event product (festivals; religious holidays and ceremonies, MICE-products); 2) art product (art tours, art vacations, photo tours); 3) film tourism (filming and tours of the filming locations); 4) cultural and cognitive tourism (city tours, industrial tours, sentimental tours, sacred tours). Methodological guidelines for creation and promotion of cultural tourism products in the region, in particular, recommendation of targeting priority of target audiences, conducting a large-scale marketing campaign to promote cultural tourism products for target audiences, organizing information tours for tour operators, bloggers and media, using digital marketing and online platforms are improved.