Future of niche tourism: diving in Russian water areas

This article discusses the role of niche tourism as a special type of tourist attractions that form a unique tourist product. The goal of the study is to identify promising ways to boost of extreme diving tours offered in Russia, including possible ways to improve the skills of divers in order to expand the range of diving services adaptive for tourism. A systematic and situational approach, as well as formal logical analysis and desk research are the main research methods. Based on a literature review on the approaches to understanding the specific features of niche types of diving and the importance of tourist impressions in the formation of customer loyalty, the author discusses the development of such types of diving as Cave Diving and Bog Diving in Russia and abroad, as well as the main trends that affect the prospects for boost. Among these are: the search for effective combinations of regular tours with new elements of different types of diving; the popularization of extreme diving training programs not only within the framework of volunteer programs or as a personal hobby of individual clients, but also as an integral part of a tourist product with increased value for the client; the formation of diving infrastructure from the position of a tourist object. The main paths of further research are a comparative analysis of the best management practices and the development of a system of indicators for assessing the quality of a niche tourist product provided to visitors of Russia's diving centers.