Development of tourism systems theory applied to a big city

The article considers the conceptual approach to explore of a big city in the context of the system framework. Author develops the N. Leyper theory about tourist destination as the geographical element of the regional tourism system in relation to the big city. The article provides a comparative characteristic of a big city and a region in terms of tourism development. Author proposes to represent a big city in the form of three closely interconnected in time and space subsystems - the big city as a destination supplying tourists, as a transit destination, and as a destination, receiving tourists. The author leads conceptual scheme of a big city as a tourism system in the form of three-leafed figure. The need to incorporate such essential component of a big city as a tourist destination as «comfortable urban environment» in addition to the tourism infrastructure, variety of attractions, transport accessibility of destination and extensive net- work of local infrastructure is substantiated. The most important components of a big city as a transit destination stands transport infrastructure (level of development of urban transport and the quality of roads) and infrastructure of its transportation hubs (airports, railway and marina stations etc.). The third subsystem of a big city as tourism system - as a destination supplying tourists - requires additional scientific research in the conditions of changing role of big cities in the Russian and international levels. Considering the fact that tourist flows from big cities are quite stable and high, the definition of income from tourism in their economy deserves a special development of methodological approaches.