Generalization of parameters and methods for assessing tourism potential used at the macro, meso, and micro levels

The article is devoted to the generalization of parameters and methods for assessing tourism potential applied in theory and practice at the macro, meso, and micro levels. The published materials were prepared within the framework of the State Assignment No. 075–00126–25–00 dated 12/25/2024 of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation for the implementation of the research work «Scientific approaches to the structural assessment of the tourism competitiveness of the subjects of the Russian Federation, including system monitoring and predictive development assessments». The study presents a modern interpretation of tourism potential as a complex socio- economic category that reflects a territory’s capacity to form and develop tourism activities. Based on an analysis of scientific sources, approaches to defining tourism potential are systematized, differences in their interpretation are identified, and the dependence of the category’s content on the scale of analysis is demonstrated. Particular attention is paid to distinguishing between the parameters and methods for assessing tourism potential, as well as to substantiating their functional interrelationship within a unified assessment system. The article proposes a classification of tourism potential parameters according to levels of governance and summarizes the practice of applying qualitative, quantitative, mixed, index- based, and spatial- mathematical assessment methods. It is shown that the effectiveness of tourism potential assessment is determined by a coordinated selection of parameters and methods, taking into account the objectives of the study and territorial specificity. The results obtained can be used in scientific research, as well as in the practice of strategic and spatial planning of tourism development and in improving regional tourism policy.