Tourism potential of small Russian towns (on the example of Gus-Khrustalny)

The aim of this paper is to study Gus-Khrustalny as a historical town and natural park, to consider the formation of the issue of preserving and reviving the environment of the historical town, to study the prerequisites for the development of tourism in Gus-Khrustalny, the positive and negative aspects of this process. For the empirical (ethnographic) study of these problems, the town of Gus-Khrustalny (Vladimir region) was chosen as the basic object. The author notes the foundation features of Gus-Khrustalny (1756, a workers’ settlement), the role of the Maltsovs in the glass production development. Cultural and natural objects, images of the town are analyzed. The author notes working town life and makes the accent on the town capabilities for receiving tourists. The author also studies the problem of the relationship between “inbound” and “outbound” tourism. In the absence of a tourism strategy, the town, along with its economic revival in the 2000–2020s, also resumed the “Soviet” forms of tourism that took place in this region in the 1970–1980s, and renewed those tourist town resources as natural, historical, socio-cultural. At the spontaneous level, at the personal level, when individual entrepreneurs have done a lot for the development of modern tourism in the towns. Local residents themselves are ready to travel and are ready to attract tourists to Gus-Khrustalny. A resort component can also be added to the strategy as an addition, given the quality of the forest area around the town. It is possible to form a concept of a resort town with a historical background. At present, the value of the unique pine forest in Central Russia with rivers, hunting, and fishing has grown many times over. There is no other historical town in Central Russia where nature would be so close within “walking distance”. In a fact it is necessary to solve the problem of creating an information cultural and tourist center.