Promotion of the Crimean shore as a tourist destination: Internet-image at intersection of national interests and personal preferences

Tourism development in the Crimean Peninsula matches the national interests of Russia, but it is also tied strongly to promotion of this destination in regard to personal preferences of potential tourists. Identification of problems and perspectives of tourism development in a given region of the country is possible with content-analysis of the e-space. These are Internet searches that permit tourists to start “meeting” with destination. Content-analysis of images in Internet permits judgments of graphical image formed in the web. In this work, graphical Internet-images of the southern, western, and eastern shores of the Crimea and Sevastopol are analyzed. The undertaken analysis allows identification of the priority Internet-positioned types of tourism in separate regions of the Crimea. This include excursion-cognitive and beach tourism. It is established that different parts of the peninsula’s shore are promoted differently, i.e., not as solid destination. Moreover, the graphical Internet-image differs from the real state of the tourism industry of region. The quantitative analysis indicates on problems linked to the degree of formation of this image. Generally, the latter needs sufficient optimization in order to serve efficiently the national interests of Russia and to satisfy citizens’ preferences.