Tourism and hospitality in the Kaliningrad region: trends, problems and development prospects in the transformation of tourist flows

Today’s world lives in the reality of tough measures: the borders of a significant number of countries are as the still closed, and periodically imposed restrictions on the hotel and restaurant business are still tight. Therefore, the entire tourism industry continues the forced transformation and adaptation to the conditions dictated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The increased interest in domestic tourist destinations formed at the first stage of the pandemic is steadily demonstrating an active positive trend, quickly responding to the pent-up demand for leisure and travel. This article is based on the results of an analysis of current trends, problems and development prospects of the Kaliningrad region as one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Russian Federation. The authors have assessed the possibilities of -recreational potential, features of transport infrastructure, the hotel business market of the region, considering the annually growing demand for this tourist destination. The study is based on the data of the official resources of Federal agency of Statistics, Federal agency for tourism, the Tourist Portal of the Kaliningrad Region, etc., as well as own observations. The data received, systematized and generalized by authors made it possible to identify the main trends and constraining factors negatively affecting the tourism industry development in the region, and also to identify a number of prospects of various types of tourism in the Kaliningrad region. The research results can be used to strengthen and further increase the competitiveness of the regional tourism product, considering the end of the pandemic and the opening of the borders of an even more significant number of states.