Medical Tourism in the Context of Socio-Economic Development of Regions of the Russian Federation

The paper studies the potential of medical tourism as a specialized type of tourism in the structure of national tourism project and the federal project for the export of medical services of the national Healthcare project. The research focuses on the federal entity of the Russian Federation, where medical tourism at the junction of healthcare and the tourism industry affects the indicators of socio-economic development of the region. The role of the realization of tourism potential of the region on the indicators of socio-economic development, as well as government support programs for the industry, including those which are at the junction with regional health development programs, the regions with positive experience in integration of health and tourism development programs as a comprehensive offer to the national and international market is shown. The paper identifies the areas of socio-economic development of the region, which are influenced by medical tourism and exports of medical services. The impact on the fiscal policy of the region, the program for the development of regional healthcare, small and medium-sized enterprises, foreign economic activity, employment indicators and investment attractiveness are studied. Medical tourism and the export of medical services is a fundamentally new format of intersectoral regional integration, forming cluster solutions for both the regional consumer of medical and tourist services, as well as for the national and international market based on federal and regional support tools. The program for the regional development of medical tourism has a comprehensive positive impact on such areas of socio-economic development of the federal entity as the fiscal policy of the region, the program for the development of regional healthcare, small and medium-sized businesses, foreign economic activity, employment indicators and investment attractiveness.