Outstanding quotes from EEF 2022: Forum participants on transport and tourism

Tourism not only plays a vital role in the economic growth, but also significantly affects its image as a whole, influencing, among other things, the investment attractiveness. Today there are favorable conditions for the development of tourism in Russia. This is due to increased financial accessibility of travel, development of infrastructure and new directions for both traditional tourism and ecotourism. The attractiveness of many cities and territories is growing due to the preparation and holding of major international events: Sochi Olympics, Youth Festival, 2018 FIFA World Cup.

The Roscongress Foundation, together with the NTI Competence Center for Big Data Storage and Analysis Technologies, based at Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov, based on the content of the key discussions of the programs of the largest business events in the country — the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, the Russian Energy Week and the Eastern Economic Forum, prepared a report «Key Trends in the Economic Development of the Russian Federation — 2022», which formulated 10 main trends in the country’s economic development.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has published a sectoral brief about the impact of COVID-19 on the tourism sector. Although the tourism industry has been hit hard by the necessary measures taken to contain the pandemic, the sector may still play a key role in reinvigorating the global economy once the crisis is over.

The article presents a theoretical and methodological rationale for improving the efficiency of the functioning of tourism and recreation zones in Russia based on the study of domestic practice and analysis of the opinion of the expert community of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum participants. Special attention is paid to the issues of organizational and economic support of public-private partnership programs in the field of tourism and recreation, as well as the development of cluster structures.