Online Tourist Portals of St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region: Current Status and Prospects

Abstract

Digitalization of tourism in the Russian Federation is primarily associated with the increasing importance of tourism, not only as a way to spend leisure time, but also as a branch of the economy that can generate a significant income and ensure territorial development. Despite a large number of diverse tourism resources in the country, tourism development was highly uneven, concentrating in a limited number of regions.Information technology and especially the Internet has greatly toughened global competition over tourist flows. In today’s world, tourists would rather visit a place about which they can get sufficient information and where a trip can be easily arranged. The role of national and regional tourist web portals, supported by relevant government agencies, is significantly increasing in this context. The tourist information infrastructure should not only provide up-to-date and complete information, but also ensure usability for the tourist (including independent). Tourism within St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region is featured by rather close links between the regions and unification of tourist flows between them. Both regions have a significant quantity of tourist resources, which ensures development of various types of tourism. Creation of the ‘silver Necklace’ interregional route consolidated further integration between tourist resources of the neighboring regions. Tourist portals of these regions, nevertheless, significantly differ in their content and interactive capabilities. As part of the study, the information presented on tourist portals of Russia, St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region in terms of implementing interactive services was reviewed.