Problems of organization of special economic zones of the tourist and recreational type in Russia's regions

One of the effects of the pandemic was the priority development of domestic tourism not only in Russia, but also abroad in the near and long term. As one of the tools for the development of the tourism sector and attracting direct investment, special economic zones of the tourist and recreational type are considered, they are created for the development of tourism and the resort sector in part of the territory of the region with the preferential regime of entrepreneurial activity. Along with numerous advantages, the creation and functioning of such zones is associated with a number of regulatory, methodological and practical issues that impede their development. Despite the fact that the creation and functioning of special economic zones are regulated by legal acts of the Russian Federation, a number of issues remain insuffi ciently disclosed. We mean the absence of criteria for defi ning a part of the territory of the region forming a free economic zone, as well as “the territory adjacent to a special economic zone”. A fairly high degree of subjectivity is present when determining priority investment projects for the creation of tourist infrastructure in the zone, assessing the economic effi ciency of its creation, etc. The purpose of the study is to form recommendations for solving methodological, regulatory and practical problems on the example of developing a concept for creating a special economic zone of the tourist and recreational type “Ural” located on the territory of the Republic of Bashkortostan. We review the extent of elaboration of the problem, analyze the contribution of tourism to the socio-economic development of the regions of Russia, as well as the effectiveness of the functioning of this type of special economic zones. We conclude that taking into account the practical experience of creating a special economic zone “Ural” when designing zones of this type will contribute to their effective functioning, attract potential investors and, ultimately, increase the competitiveness of not only the territories of their location, but also the region as a whole. The research is of an applied nature, the recommendations we propose can be used by state and municipal authorities as an information and methodological basis for the development of competitive applications for the creation of special economic zones of the tourist and recreational type.