Tourism industry development in the regions of north-west Russia in modern conditions

The Northwestern Federal District is a promising macro region of Russia for tourism development. To ensure the fulfi llment of strategic objectives related to the implementation of the national project “Tourism and Hospitality Industry”, the assessment of tourism industry development in the regions of North-West Russia is actualized, which was the purpose of the study. To implement it, we analyzed the population’s demand for hotel infrastructure in the macro region, identifi ed trends and features of consumption of accommodation services in the subjects of the Northwestern Federal District, assessed the effects of the growth of tourism consumption for the regional economy, proposed directions that contribute to the implementation of the tourist potential of the subjects of the district and the fulfi llment of the goals of the national project “Tourism and Hospitality Industry”. The paper identifi es the types of regions according to the level of tourism development, reveals regional disproportions in the distribution of tourist fl ow in the macro region, reveals the problem of increasing the number of rooms for the majority of subjects of the North-West of Russia, establishes the decline in tourist attractiveness of some territories of the district. The scientifi c novelty of the work consists in the consideration of trends in the development of the tourism industry in the North-West of Russia, functioning under the conditions of negative external challenges and the growing attractiveness of domestic tourist destinations; in the improvement of tools for the use of inter-industry balance to analyze and evaluate the economic effects for the regional economy resulting from the activation of tourism activity. The information base of the study is formed by statistical data refl ecting the development of the tourism industry, the results of a sociological survey conducted by the “Public Opinion” Foundation, EMISS data and tables “input-output”. In the course of the research, we applied the methods of comparative analysis and synthesis, economic and statistical analysis, inter-sectoral balance. The materials of the article are of practical interest for public authorities in the implementation of policy on the development of the tourism industry for a more objective understanding of the trends of its development and obtaining a greater economic effect.