The tourism and infrastructure potential of ecological tourism in countryside of the Republic of Mordovia

The article studies the reasons for the emergence of ecological tourism, while attention is drawn to the rather favorable ecological situation in rural areas. Considering the interest of urban residents in recreation in rural areas, the article considers the possibility of organizing ecotourism in terms of providing these territories with infrastructure facilities. The notions “tourist infrastructure” and “infrastructure potential” are disclosed, the peculiarities of the tourist infrastructure in rural areas are characterized and such an important element as the ecological infrastructure is singled out. The tourism and infrastructure potential is one of the components of the infrastructure potential. The authors propose the system of indicators for its evaluation. Among the main indicators of the tourism and infrastructure potential, the article considers collective accommodation facilities, public catering facilities, transport availability of the districts, the forest cover of the territory, the density of the river network, etc. The conclusion is that the tourist infrastructure is extremely unevenly distributed in the regions of Mordovia, which reduces the tourist and infrastructure potential of rural regions, their attractiveness for the organization of ecological tourism, even in the presence of favorable natural and other prerequisites. The results the cluster analysis is division of all the regions of the republic into 4 groups according to the level of the tourist-infrastructural potential: low (up to 10), medium (10.1 to 15.0), above average (15.1 to 20.0) and high (over 20). Based on the research results of the authors have designed a map, reflecting the level of the tourist-infrastructural potential of the districts. The tourist-infrastructure potential of the republic is not fully used. In many areas there is a wide range of potentially attractive tourist sites, but their use for tourism and recreational is impossible without the creating necessary infrastructure.