Involvement of local residents of small historic towns in tourism activities

Small historic cities and their cultural heritage are central to the socio-economic development of the territory, and tourism plays a key role in this. However, due to the lack of financial resources, small towns are not able to develop as dynamically as million-strong cities. This problem can be compensated by the involvement of local residents in the tourism sphere, which is one of the promising areas of conservation and development of small historic cities. The paper analyzed the existing theories and practices on the involvement of local residents in tourism activities. Foreign authors have identified the following main activities: participation in the planning of tourist destination; increasing the level of education in the tourist direction; development of tourist volunteers' activities; holding events. Domestic researchers identify a number of the following main ways to involve local residents in tourism: organization of international exhibitions, festivals, Internet fairs; "construction" of attractions; capitalization of consumer and other resources available to the population; use of intangible cultural heritage as objects of excursions and tour show; creation of event events; urban landscaping. There is a large number of small historic towns in the Tula region, the tourist potential of which is not fully used. In the work the analysis of tourist infrastructure and demographic state of small historic cities of the Tula region has been carried out, the activity of local residents in the field of tourism has been studied. A questionnaire survey among the local population was conducted, the results of which revealed the degree of residents' interest in the development of tourism. The results of the study can be used by local authorities for the development of tourism in small historic towns.