Life cycle and increasing the tourism product competitiveness (the case of “Intourist- Petrozavodsk”)

The article discusses the application of product life cycle concept for increase competitiveness through the example of the tourism compa- ny «Intourist-Petrozavodsk» (the Republic of Karelia). Four stages of tourism product development according to the life cycle concept are presented: market introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. It is hypothesized that presence of tour packages at different stages of their life cycle is a necessary condition for the successful tourism en- terprise development, which allows to provide continuous demand for tourism services as well as stable income. Brief description of «Intour- ist-Petrozavodsk» business activities is presented, classification of the company’s tourist products is performed; they are divided into three groups: tours tied to specific dates, seasonal tours and year-round tours. The life cycle stages of the Intourist-Petrozavodsk main travel products are investigated. On the basis of the study it is revealed that in order to prevent disappearing tourism products from the market in the end of their life cycle management of «Intourist-Petrozavodsk» company usually upgrades the tourist products, adding to the tourist programs various innovations, making them unique. Updated tours go to a new stage of the life cycle, starting from the stage of market pen- etration, and re-pass all stages of tourism product life cycle. It is con- cluded that the product policy allows company to provide continuous development, the growth of major economic indicators of the compa- ny presented in the article, prove it.