Tourist areas as drivers of territorial development: game approach to model formation
The formation of an attractive image of the territory for investment and tourism is inextricably linked with the identification of internal resources and their actualization. The research task was to search for conceptual solutions to the organization of tourist areas that meet the increased needs of modern people. When assessing the obtained results, the authors of the article proceeded from the ideas of the “experience economy”, which assumes the presence of such components as aesthetics, entertainment, training, participation in a product or service. Game modeling was chosen as the research method. In total, 216 people (employees of administrations, representatives of the business environment and students) from 13 municipalities of the Sverdlovsk region took part in the series of business games, which is a sufficient basis for an empirical study of this type. During the game, the teams were asked to form unique tourist areas. The choice of area was made through the prism of consumer’s individual perception, whose motivation is based on curiosity, healthy lifestyle and the search for the meanings of their existence. The results of the games we conducted were 44 area models, which, according to the prevailing characteristics, can be divided into several types: “nature”, “city”, “park”, “festival”, “eco-village”, “multifunctional space” etc. Following voting results, the most popular among consumers (“travelers”) were multifunctional areas where the municipal potential was used to the maximum. The future of Ural tourism is understood as flexible multifunctional areas development which will lead to the territorial infrastructure development, will allow local businesses to be “integrated” into their system and create an attractive Ural “experience economy” in the field of tourism for Russians and the country guests.