Experience in Building Networks in The Russian Tourist Market

Abstract

The development of the tourist services market in Russia began in 1991 with the permission to travel outside the state border for tourist purposes given to Soviet citizens. Uncertainty and lack of understanding of the economic processes that took place in the world allowed Russian travel agencies to receive superprofits in the first years of liberalization on the organization of mass outbound tourism of Russians. Ten years later, companies transited to more organized forms of doing business, and alliances, consortia, and network structures began to emerge in the outbound tourism market. In the world, the transition to such forms of business took decades, while in Russia entrepreneurs adopted methods of doing business from abroad, which led to mass bankruptcy of such organizations due to the inability of long-term financial planning in the context of the unpredictable behavior of the ruble and developing tax reform. The next stage of business formalization and the entry of national franchise networks into the Russian tourist market began in the 2010s. By this time, the Russian economy had somewhat stabilized and became attractive to international transnational structures. In Russia, they specialized in organizing outbound tourism for Russian citizens. Then, by purchasing the necessary hotel spaces in Russia, they organized inbound tourism for foreign citizens from home countries of their corporate headquarters. Thus, foreign network companies got advantages over national companies that did not have experience in the premium segment.