Prospects for the development of hiking tourism in the Republic of Tatarstan

The aim was to assess the tourism and recreational potential of the Republic of Tatarstan to determine the prospects for the development of hiking tourism. Considering the prospects for the development of hiking tourism in the Republic of Tatarstan, the authors of the study identified the main criteria for assessing the tourism and recreational potential of the territory, such as the natural environment, the level of infrastructure development and logistics of hiking routes. The article used the cartographic method of assessing tourism resources and the methodology of integrated qualitative assessment of the tourist potential of a region by A.V. Drozdov using indicators in the form of a point scale. In order to determine the prospects for the development of hiking tourism in the Republic of Tatarstan, problems hindering the development of this type of tourism were summarised. Among the problems currently hindering the development of hiking tourism, general problems of active tourism and ways to solve them and specific problems of the development of hiking tourism in the Republic of Tatarstan were identified. Despite the high rates of development of sports tourism in Tatarstan, large investments in infrastructure and the enormous work done in this area, the region has many unrealised resources. The study showed that the Yelabuga and Zelenodolsk municipal districts of Tatarstan have the greatest potential for the development of hiking tourism. Of the indicators of the natural landscape component, the Yelabuga and Zelenodolsk districts are leaders in two of three possible indicators. Of the totality of regional distribution of infrastructure, the Yelabuga district has a large number of points in two of three indicators and the Zelenodolsk district in all indicators. The Yelabuga and Zelenodolsk municipal districts of Tatarstan have the potential to become centres for the development and organization of active recreation, including the organisation of hiking tourism in the east and northwest of the Republic.