TOURISM IN SMALL TOWNS OF RUSSIA: FEATURES AND ASSESSMENTS

Abstract. The objective of the study is to describe the place and role of small towns in the tourism potential of the Russian Federation. A review of the literature on the current state and prospects for tourism development in small Russian towns is conducted. The study identifies the types of tourism that act as drivers of regional development in modern conditions. In particular, the prospects of estate and ecological tourism for small towns are substantiated. It is concluded that the main problem is the differences in tourism infrastructure and the unevenness of tourist activity in different territories. Quantitative assessments of this unevenness were obtained through the development and implementation of the author's index. A comprehensive statistical database was compiled, reflecting tourist activity in a sample of small towns located in different regions of the Russian Federation. On this basis, groups of statistical indicators were formed and used to construct the index. The methodology for constructing the index was an advanced statistical tool – the principal component analysis. The calculation results made it possible to build a rating of small towns in Russia according to the level of their tourism development. The leaders of the rating in 2023 were Suzdal, Yelabuga, Uglich, and the outsiders were Gavrilov Posad, Sarapul, Irbit. An analysis of changes in the index values for the period from 2019 to 2023 was conducted. The findings indicate that there were no structural shifts significant enough to cause a reordering of towns in the ranking.