METHODOLOGY FOR IDENTIFYING AND EVALUATING TOURIST ATTRACTIONS (USING THE EXAMPLE OF THE REGIONS OF SOUTHERN RUSSIA)

Abstract

Identification and evaluation of tourist attractions are necessary for the purposes of strategic and territorial planning of tourism development. This allows us to find resources and potential for diversification and spatial expansion of the tourist offer. The parameters and numerical values of the evaluation of tourist attractions are described in three blocks: significance (popularity and scale); current status (visual appearance and user experience of the visit); accessibility from the main transport axes and supporting tourist centers. Numerical values were calculated and classified using the QGIS GIS system based on a wide range of spatial data sources, primarily popular search and information cartographic systems. Cartographic models of the distribution of attractors with different evaluation values have been formed to identify territorial differences in the tourist potential. According to the results of the integrated assessment, only 3 % of the attractors located in the Krasnodar Territory, the Rostov Region and the Republic of Adygea belong to the class with high potential. The largest number of points with high tourist potential (57 %) is located in the Krasnodar Territory. In the “importance of attractors” block, a large number (48 %) are noted points with low status. The largest number of significant attractors (29 %) are located in a narrow strip of the Black Sea coast, mountainous and foothill territories of the Krasnodar Territory and Adygea, along the Don Valley and in the steppes of the Kumo-Manych depression of the Rostov Region. In the “state of the attractors” block, estimates of the visual state of points are more often higher than estimates of the user experience after visiting them. The attractors of the South of Russia are often initially aesthetically attractive, while the quality of their “service” and external landscaping reduce the ratings of tourists. In the “accessibility of attractors” block, due to the high population density and dense transport network, more than half (63 %) of the attractors are located within the time zone of accessibility from the main tourist centers. At the same time, at long distances (>200 km) along the main axes of tourist transit (M4 “Don”, A 289, R-217, R-260) there are no significant attractors in the pedestrian accessibility zone, which indicates an underestimated use of the high transit tourist flow.