Problems and Prospects for the Development of Agritourism in Russia and the Yaroslavl Region

The relevance of the article is due to the development and active dissemination of a new promising direction of tourist services - agrotourism. The purpose of the article is to analyze the current state of the agrotourism industry in Russia and the Yaroslavl region, identify problems and develop recommendations for its development. In the theoretical part of the article, the analysis of definitions of the concept of "agritourism" is carried out and proposals for their clarification are made. It is concluded that agrotourism is a complex service that includes a large number of different business activities. It is shown that the positive economic effect from the development of agrotourism is received by four main groups of stakeholders: agricultural producers, consumers of agrotourism services, the state and rural residents. Moreover, this effect is significantly enhanced at the macroeconomic level due to the synergistic effect in related industries. The methods used are marketing research of consumers and a situational analysis of the state of agrotourism in the Yaroslavl region. The results of the study of the characteristics and features of consumer demand for agrotourism services throughout Russia are presented. To assess the prospects and opportunities for the development of agritourism in the Yaroslavl region, a SWOT and PEST analysis was conducted. Based on the results of the analysis, the main problems hindering the development of agritourism were identified, both in Russia as a whole and in the Yaroslavl region in particular. Proposals for solving these problems were developed by government agencies and by agricultural enterprises themselves.