Development of tourist infrastructure in the northern border regions of Russia

In modern conditions tourism is recognized as one of promising and/or priority directions of regional socio-economic development of the RF subjects. The northern border regions have unique tourist and recreational potential, revealing opportunities for the development of the various types of tourism. However, the effectiveness of tourism business, the level of use of natural and cultural-historical potential of the territories is largely determined by the possibilities of tourist infrastructure, operating in the Russian regions. The paper discloses the essence and structure of the concept “tourist infrastructure”, the choice of 17 northern border regions to study the current state of tourist infrastructure development. The research and the assessment of the state of tourist infrastructure development are based on the calculation of the integral indicator that takes into account the level of modern development of its constituent elements: infrastructure of hosting, catering, leisure and entertainment. The article presents the comparative analysis of the tourist infrastructure development in comparison with the national indicators and the dynamics of certain indicators of tourism for 2009 - 2012; identifies a number of interrelated and interdependent problems of touristic infrastructure development in the regions studied. It reveals that the northern border regions are characterized by underdevelopment of tourist infrastructure in comparison with the national average; it hinders potential growth of incoming flows and, accordingly, development of tourist business in the regions as a whole. The received practical results allow us to present a comprehensive picture of the state of tourist infrastructure and its main elements. Besides, they can be used in the study of development of tourist infrastructure and tourist business at the regional level. The practical application of the proposed approach to the assessment of the tourist infrastructure development level gives an opportunity to rank regions in order to elaborate recommendations to improve regional tourist infrastructure, set priorities of investment infrastructure projects and expand possible options for management decisions, acting as a tool of regional economic policy in the sphere of tourism.