Specificity of tourism development in small and medium-sized cities of Russia

In modern world, also in Russia, tourism is dynamic, independent branch of the economy. The tourism expands the boundaries of commercial offers and deepens specialization. Landscape, environment and space are the foundation for the tourism development. The potential of Russia's tourism industry, as one of the most important factors of regional development, is still underestimated. Many of landscape and cultural features remain unnoticed and unused. The tourism development in small cities is very important, since they have a valuable historical and cultural heritage, they are an important source of improving the welfare of the country. This territory can be represented as a system that opens great opportunities for knowledge about the history, culture, customs, spiritual and religious values of small cities in Russia. The article is dedicated to the regional features of tourism development in small historical cities of Russia. Nowadays the government has a great deal of attention to the development of tourism in the Russian Federation, in particular, the article discusses the federal programs that are currently being implemented. Many small cities have historical status now. The modern development of tourism in small historical cities was promoted by an increase of people's interest in their historical heritage, their past. This type of tourism is especially important for the preservation of the individuality of the peoples of the Russian Federation, their involvement in the world civilization. Creation in 2007 of the Association of Small Tourist Cities confirms this. The peculiarity of each of the cities is the perfectly preserved appearance of their historical part with a lot of unique monuments of architecture, history and culture. Some monuments are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.