MODEL OF SPATIAL ORGANIZATION OF TOURISM CLUSTERS IN SMALL HISTORIC CITIES OF RUSSIA
Authors: BAKAEVA NATALIA , SIMAKOVA POLINA 
Published: March 2023

Relevance. Small historical towns in Russia are currently facing many problems. At the same time, they play a special role in the socio-economic and spatial development of their regions and the country as a whole. A huge number of small towns have significant, often hidden reserves for their successful development through the improvement of the tourism industry. The cluster model of tourism organization is very effective due to the cooperation of various enterprises and elements of urban infrastructure and as a result of creating a high-quality tourism product and increasing the competitiveness of small towns. A promising territory for creating a tourism cluster (TC) is the city of Torzhok, Tver region, Russia. Torzhok is located in relative proximity to big cities and is a monument of Russian urban art. This fact indicates the real possibility of the city to become an attractive object of cultural tourism. In urban planning, the greatest interest in the organization of tourism clusters is their spatial organization and elemental composition. To date, none of the developed TC models reflects the characteristics of the spatial organization of TC elements on the territory of small historic towns. It is necessary to develop a model that would eliminate this drawback. The purpose and objectives. Development of a model of spatial organization of tourism clusters in small towns of Russia, which will take into account the needs and preferences of potential tourists, pedestrian and transport accessibility of cluster elements. To achieve this purpose, the following objectives were solved: - to analyze domestic and foreign experience in studying the structural and elemental composition of tourism clusters. Identify the main elements of the TC. - to conduct a sociological study in order to determine the tourist demand of travelers to small towns in Russia - to develop a model of the spatial organization of a tourism cluster. Methodology. When studying the theoretical foundations of the formation of tourism clusters, scientific articles and abstracts of dissertations were considered. The subject of the study was the structure and elemental composition of the TC. As part of the study, a sociological survey was conducted among potential tourists traveling to small historical towns of Russia to determine the necessary set of TC elements and their pedestrian accessibility. Results. The article considers the issue of spatial organization of tourism clusters on the territory of small historic towns of Russia and their elemental composition. The developed models of the spatial organization of the tourism cluster are presented, taking into account the needs and preferences of potential tourists, namely the necessary set of elements of the tourism cluster and their pedestrian accessibility. The models were built on the basis of the results of a sociological study conducted by the author of this article. Conclusion. The proposed models of the spatial organization of the tourism cluster will allow the most rational arrangement of tourist infrastructure facilities, which will create comfortable conditions for tourists and, as a result, a high level of tourist services. The model can be used by local authorities when developing planning solutions for tourism clusters in small historic town of Russia.