The paper analyzes the state-of-the-art of the tourist and recreation complex (TRC) in the Russian Federation. We describe the tourist infrastructure (accommodation facilities and transport systems), the amount and structure of tourist arrivals, tourism investment projects, priority types of tourism and promotion specifics. The conclusion lists recommendations on the socially significant types of the tourism support: improving tourism legislative and regulatory framework, development of the tourism infrastructure, improving domestic tourism product competitiveness, tourism scientific and staff support, and Russian tourism product promotion development in the domestic and international market.

The aim of the paper is to analyze the results of the studies carried out to substantiate regional strategies for the development of tourism based on a structural and functional analysis of regional and local tourist and recreational systems. The need to form a state policy of spatial development of the tourism sector is substantiated, its content is determined, and therefore, the categories of tourist and recreational space and tourist and recreational potential, tourist and recreational resources and tourist and recreational complex that are popular in recreational geography are discussed. The importance and role of the state regional policy and its tools in ensuring the effectiveness of the national tourism complex, the relevance of the regional tourism product invariant in ensuring the competitiveness of national tourism, the role of diversifying the regional tourism product in ensuring the sustainable development of the destination are considered.

The purpose of the paper is to develop scientific and methodological foundations defining the prospects for the formation of interregional tourist projects. A geosystem analysis of the problems of interregional interaction in the field of tourism is performed. As a result of the research, an algorithm for the formation of interregional tourist and recreational systems is proposed as a basis for constituting various forms of spatial organization of tourism. The theoretical and practical significance of the study is determined by the possibility of applying its results to form specific interregional tourist projects, including the territory of tourism, recreation, geosystems, territorial tourist and recreational systems, inter-regional tourist projects in Central Russia.

This paper describes the experience of countries that have significant natural potential and pursue an active policy of planning, regulating, supporting, promoting, and monitoring ecotourism. The formal logical method and the methods of comparative and institutional analysis are used in the research. It is shown that the experience gained in the development of ecotourism accumulated by different countries demonstrates country specificity and general approaches harmonized with international recommendations and tasks on creating conditions for sustainable development of tourism. Existing systemic approaches and advanced solutions in countries can be recommended in the format of the ‘right decision’ because they demonstrate how ecotourism can contribute to the achievement of sustainable development goals.

This paper is the first in the Russian scientific literature to analyse the experience of the ‘Avatar Mountain’ tourism destination based on Zhangjiajie National Forest Park in Hunan Province, China. The combination of modern scientific approaches in tourism destination studies based on tourism area life cycle theory with field observations helps identify the key elements of the destination and their evolution, aspects of its competitiveness and further trends in the development. The study of the Chinese experience in organizing mass tourism at World Heritage sites is of particular importance due to the increasing demand for diversification and tourist product quality as well as the need for sustainable development of local communities.

The paper analyzes typical problems of nomination into the UNESCO global geoparks’ network on the example of the protected area of the Belogradchik Rocks in Bulgaria. The territory received the highest scores in terms of geological diversity. External experts of UNESCO confirmed uniqueness of the territory as having no analogy in the global network of geoparks. Nevertheless the project was dismissed on the basis of management criteria such as elaboration of detailed master-plan of governance of the territory, including marketing and financial strategies, branding of local products, specialized educational programs, trip guides on six official UN languages, etc. The main obstacle was a requirement for territory to function as an actual destination of international geotourism at least one year prior to the nomination procedure. In our view, such conditions should be weakened at least for countries with transition economy where many interior regions experienced marginalization and depopulation.

The paper analyzes the activity and interest of the regions of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation in the development of tourism on the basis of the cluster approach. Using the methods of spatial analysis, the regional features of the implementation of projects of tourist and recreational clusters are studied and the key problems arising in the process of the formation of tourist and recreational clusters in the subjects of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation are identified. The current state of the development of the tourism sector demonstrates that the tourist market requires a comprehensive analysis and forecasting. The main problems are the lack of systematic work on interaction with the business communities, aimed at creating high-quality tourist products and their subsequent promotion in the tourist markets.

The main socio-economic results of the functioning of the tourist and recreational complex of Crimea in the Russian Federation are considered. The dynamics of tourist flows, changes in the consumer audience of the Crimean tourist product, directions of the development of material and technical base of tourism are analyzed, and shifts of the functional and territorial structure of the tourist and recreational activity in the region are revealed. The key objectives of the strategic development of the tourist and recreational complex of the Republic of Crimea are formulated.

The purpose of the research is to describe the tourism framework development of the Ryazan region during the last 50 years. The study is based on the system structural analysis, spatiotemporal and spatiofunctional approaches. The definition of the tourism support framework is presented, the ways of classifying tourism space structures are considered and the polycentric hierarchical structure of tourism space of the Ryazan region is described. The study revealed several factors that influence the tourism support framework in the region. The forecast of its development is presented. An analysis of the origin and current state, as well as the prospects for further development of the tourism support framework of the Ryazan region, allows us to conclude about its stability. The results can be used for further improvement of regional tourism policy.

The paper studies the allocation of tourism and recreational regions in Sevastopol. The territorial analysis of the Sevastopol tourism infrastructure is performed. The tourist accommodation infrastructure (2528), the transport network, the historical and cultural monuments (1360), the natural sights (14), the theaters, and the entertainment centers, etc., are mapped. The levels of the territory infrastructure development are determined (very high, high, medium, and low). The tourism and recreational centers are determined. The cores of tourist and recreational activities with the prevailing types of tourism are identified. Nine types of Sevastopol tourism and recreational regions are allocated. The results of the paper can be recommended for the city master plan project.

We report the results of studying the experience of developing tourism in the town of Zaraysk. On its example, factors typical for small towns of Russia which restrain the development of this field of activity are identified and ways for eliminating barriers are proposed. Using the analysis of the state of tourism in the town of Zaraysk, both the parameters affecting tourism and the main problems are identified, such as uncertainty of the tourist destination for the target audience, low level of development of the tourist infrastructure, limited range of tourist offers, lack of local tour operators and clear positioning of the destination. The paper provides recommendations on the key areas of work of the tourist administration of the territory, including the development of a range of attractive offers for the domestic tourist market based on the original positioning of the territory and a program to promote the region in the Russian market.

The paper analyzes typical problems of automating the design of recreational cycle route in large cities using the example of Nur-Sultan city, which is a rapidly developing center of tourism in the Republic of Kazakhstan. The employed automated multi-criteria analysis takes into account the suitability of the road network for organizing cycle routes, the distance to the main tourist’s attraction sites, accommodations and bike rental stations, city sites and parks. These factors can be used to make recommendations for planning recreationa; routes. The analysis was performed automatically using the ArcGIS software package and its ModelBuilder add-on module and as a result the model for automatically spatial planning of recreational cycle route networks was developed. The algorithm was tested using the example of the city of Nur-Sultan. The proposed cycle route network for Nur-Sultan complements the existing cycling infrastructure.