The role of the tourism industry in the Russian economy

The article overviews such areas of the Russian economy as agriculture and tourism. Machine-building, energy, finance and information technologies are regarded as sectors that are attractive for investors in Russia. Before the revolution in the early 20th century, more than a half of Russia’s export accounted for agriculture, with the significant and positive balance of foreign trade. So, it proves that the national agricultural sector has considerable potential, which may be effectuated with a due approach and efforts. The objective of the article is to evaluate a possible role and position of the tourism industry in modern Russia. For this, we performed a detailed analysis of issues and prospects of its development.