THE TRENDS AND GEOGRAPHY OF ORGANIZED OUTBOUND INTERNATIONAL TOURISM FROM THE PERM REGION IN THE CONTEXT OF MODERN CHALLENGES

Abstract

The paper studies functional peculiarities of tour operators and travel agencies at the regional level and their role in the transformation of the outbound tourist flow in the context of modern political and economic challenges. The research aims to identify trends in the development of international tourism from the Perm region, to identify foreign countries of tourist interest, and to justify the choice of holiday destinations in these countries taking maximum account of the preferences of the region’s inhabitants. Based on the monitoring of international flight programs, on data obtained from surveys of local residents and tourism professionals, etc., the groups of tour operators engaged in the region’s outbound tourism and the peculiarities of their participation in the formation of tourist flow were determined, the main trends in the development of organized outbound tourism were revealed, and a portrait of an international Perm tourist is presented. The result of the research is the justification of the prospects of choosing by tour operators, guided by the preferences of the region’s residents, of Eastern holiday destinations. The author proposes her own method of choosing destinations based on the calculation of the PHD (preference of holiday destination) coefficient. The factors for choosing preferred places are grouped into three blocks – accessibility, resource-infrastructure, and climatic factors. A systematization of the factors according to the significance of the evaluation indicator is proposed: the factors are ranked as priority factors, factors correcting the choice, and factors rarely determining the choice. The PHD formula is given. To preserve outbound international tourism as a mass type of tourism accessible to the population of the region, a line of charter tours from Perm is needed with a geographical focus on the basic directions and places indicated in the article as those meeting the needs of the regional tourist. The estimation of the relative preferability of individual holiday destinations within the same direction should be considered as a guideline for tour operators in determining priorities when concluding contracts with counterparties and making presentations for travel agencies, and it should be used for other regions as well.