An outlook at the Russian education in the field of tourism through the prism of the sustainable tourism paradigm

A complete and comprehensive inclusion of sustainable tourism paradigm in Russian tourism studies and thematic plans of respective subjects are right now of particular importance. At the moment, we can say that there is very superficial and simplistic understanding of the concept of sustainable development in tourism in Russia when there are just proclamations about the need to integrate environmental considerations, social restrictions, as well as interests of the local economy into tourism development agendas, but at the same time, Russian researchers and teachers do not have enough understanding of all the possible and detailed refractions and particular branches of this topicality. Admittedly, this is a general problem, but it is felt particularly acutely in Russia. Quite often both in Russia and abroad the sustainability paradigm becomes just an element of rhetoric without any substance. At the same time certain skepticism is positive, and needed towards the notion as it is highly complex and contradictory, with a need to balance different aspects of sustainability rather than fulfill an ideal. September 22, 2016 in RSUTS there was held a scientific-practical seminar "Sustainable and rural tourism in Russia", which was designed to target the above mentioned problems. Leading international and Russian experts in the field of sustainable tourism development showcased the best examples of their own research, and the seminar as a result provided a relative breadth and diversity of issues in the field of sustainable and rural tourism. Partici- pants presented and illustrated case study situations, as well as used other classic research methods to discuss such topics like: 1) the interaction of the center and periphery as a factor of long-term sustainability in tourism; 2) service orientation as a factor of the long-term competitiveness of the destination; 3) the problem of finding an optimal balance between the gen- eral state regulations and ethnic autonomy; 4) consideration of the interests of local residents and their awareness regarding positive external effects of tourism experiences; 5) the liminality factor in tourist expiriences; 6) avoid- ance of excessive standardization and universalization of tourist products as a factor of the competitiveness of peripheral destinations; 7) the concept of touristscapes and taskscapes; 8) optimal route networks and anchor points for sustainable forms of tourism in the Arctic; 9) the importance of caravan- ning for depressed Russian rural settlements; 10) features of business pro- cesses of small businesses in rural tourism; 11) innovative entrepreneurship as a factor in increasing the sustainability and competitiveness of the tour- ism industry in crisis conditions. These and other aspects of sustainable tourism development were the sub- ject of detailed discussions at the scientific-practical seminar, which, hope- fully, lead to a better understanding of the sustainability paradigm in the current realities of the Russian tourism industry. This publication represents some key views, concept and also passages of academic debates that took place during the seminar, by representatives of five countries: Russia, Nor- way, Australia, Sweden and Iceland. The purpose of this publication was to systematize the academic content of the presentations, scientific reports, and speeches as well as to provide some explanations on how they can con- tribute to strengthening the concept of sustainable tourism as a full-fledged and productive paradigm for tourism research and conceptual educational approaches.