«Intourist»: at the origins of the foreign tourism in USSR

The article deals with the issue of beginning Russian tourist service in the sphere of interna- tional tourism. In this period the Soviet Government considered tourism as a specific type of propaganda of the soviet life and «socially close» tourists were in the focus of atten- tion. The main concept of the foreign tourism in the USSR connected two paradoxical ideas: «proletarian tourism» with its purely class and ideological motivation and the need to meet international standards of tourist business, task of business success. The Famous company Thomas Cook & Son embodied the model of international tourism business in the most con- centrated and classical form. Cooperation with this company would make the Soviet tourism business internationally recognized. However, the lack of tourism infrastructure of interna- tional level and the ambitions of the Soviet leaders have prevented such cooperation. Dra- matic negotiations with Thomas Cook & Son ended with the creation of the Soviet Joint Stock Company «Intourist», which built Soviet tourist business at its own discretion. International requirements to the tourist service led to the creation of a separate «intourist» infrastructure, which was not available for Soviet citizens. An important aspect of the activities of «Intourist» was a close cooperation with the state security apparatus at all stages of the tourist service. Nevertheless, «Intourist» has managed to adapt to both the Soviet tourist industry, and to the international standards in this field. The article deals with the period of «Intourist» activity in the 1920-30s.