Tendencies and Prospects of Tourism Industry in Russia: Sociological Analysis of Stereotypes among Population during Tourism Trips

Abstract

1. Introduction Global and integration trends of social development are leading to the increase of tourism industry, as one of the leading and the most dynamically developing fields of the world economy. In this context, identification and choice of prosperous tourism market, analysis and demand forecasting on the tourism trips are becoming fundamental bases for the economy of many developed and developing countries ensuring inflow of investments in the development of objects of historical and cultural potential of the territories, their infrastructure. The peculiarity of tourism industry allows observing it from both sides: as a subject of economic analysis and social study. It reveals such aspects as: immersion of population in the cultural and historical values, style and life of peoples of different countries. Besides, social characteristics of tourism service directly depend on the stereotypes different social groups have, peculiarity of social and cultural perception of tourism potential of the regions. Due to the prolonged economic crisis, and unstable political situation in the world, economists and social scientists are focusing their attention on strategic planning of tourism trips considering rapid transformation of social and economic conditions of modern states. This situation is particularly acute in Russia. According to the results of the independent social survey, the level of attractiveness of some regions is not high enough (except such traditional destination, as the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus). 2. Analysis of recent publications on this problem Significant amount of studies has been devoted to the problem of tourism development and to the main aspects of planning and organising tourism activity. Theoretical issues, analysis of the conceptual framework of working and developing tourism industry and tourism infrastructure were analysed in the studies of such scientists as M.A. Zhukhova (Zhukhova, 2006), V.G. Gulyaev (Gulyaev, 2003), M.B. Byrzhakhov (Byrzhakhov, 2014), S. Medlik (Medlik, 2012), Kh. Godfree (Godfree, 2000), Lasha R. Zhiba, Khatuna K. Shat-ipa (Zhiba, Shatipa, 2012), D. MacCannell (MacCannell). Special attention in the modern studies is being paid to the mechanisms of tourism development providing high quality of tourism service (Ottenbacher, Harrington, 2013; Massidda, Mattana, 2013, Emsden, 2013). It is highly interesting to pay attention to the works on creating demand on tourism service, especially among students, gamification of tourism business (Kirillov et al., 2016; Vinichenko et al., 2016; (Anikina et al., 2016; Bashmakov et al., 2015; Menshchikova and Sayapin, 2016; Shatkovskaya et al., 2017; Faizova et al., 2015). There are also important studies devoted to factors of development of tourism territorial potential, territorial image, activity of local authorities with the aims of social and cultural economic development of the territories including tourism infrastructure (Kryukova et al., 2014; Frolova, 2016; Jones and Stewart, 2012; Bondaletov et al., 2015; Kryukova et al., 2016; Firescu and Popescu, 2015). The less worked out issues refer to the mechanisms and administrative ways of influence on the processes of the development of cultural and educational tourism. Goals and objectives of the study include analysis and definition of the stereotypes which diverse social groups of Russian society follow while planning their trips. We also study their perception of the cultural and educational tourism potential and tourism service in the Russian cities. 3. Methods Considering the necessity of solving the mentioned-above goals and objectives, as well as the aim of expansion of social knowledge, developing prospects for the Russian tourism market, the authors conducted a social study in 2016. The topic was the following: "The prospects of the development of tourism industry in modem Russia", underpinned with the empirical base of the municipal districts of Moscow region. …