Infrastructural potential of tourist destinations of Volgograd region

The purpose of this article is to assess the infrastructural potential of tourist destinations, i.e., localized types of tourism, in the Volgograd region. In general terms, the infrastructural potential of tourist destinations is understood as a set of conditions for the transfer and accommodation of tourists. The methodological basis is an integrated approach to the concept of “infrastructural potential,” comparative geographic analysis, geoinformational modeling, and cartographic modeling. The integrated character of the paper is manifested in the identification of components of infrastructure potential, such as territorial factors, the potential of the population, the provision of collective accommodation facilities, and the state of transport infrastructure, the analysis of which is based on official statistics for the period 2002-2022. The territorial units for studying the infrastructure potential are the administrative districts of the Volgograd region; thus, comparative and geographical principles are used. To identify the spatial features of the development of tourism infrastructure using geographic information systems, the cartograms were constructed and analyzed, which illustrate the location of tourist and recreational enterprises and the tourist and recreational attractiveness of administrative districts of the region. The methods and statistical data used made it possible to reveal the uneven development of the tourist infrastructure. The districts of the Volgograd region were ranked according to the degree of tourist attractiveness: low one had 20 districts, medium one had 12 districts, high one had 1 district (Sredneakhtubinsky), and the city of Volgograd had the highest attractiveness. In spatial terms, the main axis of the development of tourist infrastructure was identified, including 7 administrative districts located along the right bank of the Volga and confined to the Volga-Aktuba flood plain; some border areas, Kotelnikovsky, Uryupinsky, Serafimovichsky, and Pallasovsky, have an medium tourist attractiveness. The majority of the districts in the center of the region and the left bank of the Volga have a low tourist and recreational attractiveness. A component-by-component analysis and a capacity assessment of the potential of tourist destinations, especially in the context of administrative regions, make it possible to identify the leading factors in the territorial development of the tourism and recreational spheres and to develop tourism and recreational systems in the future.