The role of the accommodation sector in tourism routes of the Russian Federation

The article presents the analysis of the role of the placement means sector in the structure of the created tourist routes in the subjects of the Russian Federation. The sample size was 6 thousand routes in all federal districts of the Russian Federation. The problem of low service provided by hotel services in Russia is one of the significant problems hampering the development of domestic and inbound tourism. Price and quality sometimes do not match. Part of the situation could be saved by the growing competition with hotels included in international chains, which have their own rules for corporate culture, high standards of service are clearly defined for each individual hotel category (in terms of stardom). However, this circumstance does not serve as a basis for revising the marketing strategy of independent hoteliers. It is important to pay attention to accommodation facilities similar to hotels, as well as other means of accommodation. They are also widely represented in the tourist market. In the opinion of the author, the low level of service in accommodation facilities is determined not so much by the reluctance of management to improve it, as by the structure of demand from tourists and tour operators creating products. Most of the routes that include the need to accommodate tourists are realized on average in the area of ​​one or two days. In this case, tourists do not stay in accommodation for a long time, but continue their route further. This circumstance does not serve as an incentive for changes in the quality of services. Moreover, the article specifies that other and individual means of accommodation are widely represented in the routes of such large federal districts as Central, Ural, Siberian, Far Eastern. Accommodation in hotels is more common in the routes of the North-Western, Privolzhsky, Crimean and North-Caucasian federal districts. Collective means of placement in this case are passive operators providing a separate format of services. However, this strategy can not be used by all players in the hospitality industry in all federal districts. Specificity of regions, their distance from each other, the level of prices on the ground should become limiting conditions in which hoteliers could develop. That is why the need is suggested for them to actively propose ideas of their own tourist routes to tour operators, or actively interact with the latter, attracting all new, including unorganized tourist flows.