Ways of rural tourism development at the regional level (the case of the Sredneakhtubinsky district of Volgograd region)

The purpose of the study is to promote the tourism development in the Sredneakhtuba municipal district of Volgograd region as the most promising area by improving the activities of enterprises providing various tourist services and involving enterprises in tourist flows whose activities are currently not related to tourism. The authors interviewed seven existing and potential objects of tourist interest located in the Sredneakhtuba district, of which four are engaged in some kind of tourist reception activity, and three are agricultural enterprises whose activities are not related to tourism. The survey shows that owners are interested in cooperation. Despite the heterogeneity of these objects, the authors developed unified methodology for assessing the tourist potential, in accordance with it, filled in the tables, reflecting the name of the object and its address; assessment of the location according to various criteria, characteristics of the services provided; types of tourism within which the object is used and can potentially be used; main consumer groups; stage of the life cycle of an object; characteristic of promotion through the Internet. The conclusions obtained for two groups of objects formed the basis of recommendations for the organization / improvement of their tourist activities. For existing tourist facilities, these recommendations were given taking into account the stage of their life cycle and are presented in the context of three groups: recommendations for improving the product; recommendations for promotion; a strategy for the long-term development of facilities in order to realize the tourism potential. It is advisable for objects that were not engaged in tourism activities to start developing it as an alternative to the main type of activity, and they were given recommendations on the formation and promotion of a tourism product.