Gastronomic tourism as a driver of the development of the regional market of tourist services: assessment of the state and prospects

In the Russian regions, there is a focus on the promotion of domestic tourism. A review of the results of scientific research on the development of regional markets has led to the conclusion that gastronomic tourism is one of the key drivers of regional economic growth and development. It is now widely acknowledged as an important source of tourism revival. In light of the above, it is of interest to examine the practice, analysis and evaluation of the effectiveness of tourist activities in the field of gastronomic tourism, which represents the objective of the present study. The paper outlines the authors’ approach to the construction of a system of evaluation criteria, presents a variant of a point system for the assessment of the level of fulfilment of the aforementioned criteria, and proposes and tests a methodology for the calculation of the assessment. Based on the findings of the evaluation of the efficacy of tourism activities in the domain of gastronomic tourism, recommendations are put forth, the implementation of which will facilitate the advancement of the regional tourism market (illustrated through the case of Orel and its neighbouring regions). The proposed methodology can be employed to assess the effectiveness of tourism activities in other sectors of regional markets.