INBOUND TOURIST FLOW DIRECTIONS TO DETERMINE THE TARGET MARKETS FOR PROMOTING TOURIST DESTINATIONS

Abstract

Current trends in the development of international tourism and the policy of states in this sector are of great interest to potential consumers of tourist services, tourism entities, scientists dealing with economics, as well as government agencies in different countries engaged in tourism regulation and development. Since the international tourism industry is one of the most important economic sectors, it affects the economic, cultural, and social development of regions and countries around the world. The development of inbound tourism is currently one of the priorities of the state policy in the tourism industry. It is well known that in many countries worldwide, inbound tourism extensively contributes to the treasury and the state image. It is one of the most important categories of exports, and often is the main source of foreign exchange earnings. Russia has everything necessary for the development of the tourism industry, namely, natural environment, historical, cultural, and material resources. The relevance of this problem predetermines the great interest in this issue on the part of scientists and practitioners. However, today there is no effective mechanism for managing inbound tourism by planning and organizing events aimed at promoting tourist destinations. The article defines at the theoretical level the prospects for the development of inbound tourism, the factors influencing the development of inbound tourism, and the criteria for selecting target markets for inbound tourism. Based on data of United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the article presents the top 10 countries in terms of spending on outbound tourism; based on data of Department of Statistics and Data Management of the Bank of Russia, defines the top 7 countries by the average level of expenditure for tourism purposes in the Russian Federation; based on the data of Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat), determines the number of inbound tourist trips for foreign citizens in Russia. In consequence of the analysis of the obtained data, the process of choosing a destination as a key aspect of the consumer behavior of a foreign tourist is presented.