Potential of corporate museums in the development of regional business tourism (the case of Saint Petersburg)

Saint Petersburg is the center of the museum life of Russia. There are over 200 sites of historical and cultural heri- tage - historical, geographical, applied, and industry museum complexes and architectural monuments. The history of museum affairs in Saint Petersburg dates back more than 300 years. The article considers the main differences of a corporate museum that determine the interest from business cus- tomers. Purposes and forms of interaction between corporate museums and business tourism in the region are revealed. The branch-wise classification of the major industry museums of Saint Petersburg is presented. The author defines the factors of preferences and makes the rating of five, most popular corporate museums in the city. The forms and signs of interaction of corporate museums in Saint Petersburg through the prism of business tourism development are considered. Information and education technology as a factor of involving business tour- ists to the region and the development of corporate museums is proposed. The author describes the main stages of creation of a corporate museum in order to attract business tourists. The basic principles of planning of meet- ings on the basis of potential of industry corporate museums are discovered. The author reveals the main negative aspects in the organization of interaction between business tourism and corporate museums, and proposes the measures to neutralize them.