The regional and municipal event tourism (the case of the Kaliningrad region): current issues and development prospects

The work is devoted to the event tourism and its role in creating the image of a territory. The article analyzes various approaches to defining this concept. This gave the authors possibility to identify the main characteristics inherent in event tourism. It is shown that many geobranding concepts are built around event marketing, making possible to transform a significant event into a territory brand. The article describes the Kaliningrad region as a territory promising for the event tourism development, and outlines its tourism potential. For qualitative and quantitative analysis, the authors have studied the Calendar of Events posted on the “Visit-Kaliningrad”, Tourist Portal of the Kaliningrad Region. Based on it, the authors have systematized over 600 events presented on the portal by type, and have presented their distribution among the municipalities of the Kaliningrad Region. Significant differences are revealed among municipalities their number and thematic focus. At the same time, the search queries analysis for events showed the greatest demand for Mayholidays. But the largest number of them in the Calendar are held in the summer period, attractive itself for tourists arriving here. At the same time, the events outside the regional center are in interest. Based on the results of the study, the authors give the recommendations for improving the Events Calendar. The article notes the relevance for the heads of regional and municipal authorities for more coordinated and systematic work on planning the Calendar of Events. It is important to create it considering the tourist and recreational potential of the territories, their already established image (or in accordance with plans for its creation), calendar sequence and seasonal feasibility, and customer focus.