Against the background of the unstable international political situation, which limited a number of foreign tourist destinations and gave impetus to the development of domestic tourism, there is a need to form a competitive tourist and recreational system that can meet the demands of consumers of tourist and recreational services at a qualitative level. Foreign and Russian experience shows that one of such systems is sectoral clustering. At the same time, the interregional nature of a specialized cluster allows achieving a synergetic effect, which is not always possible within one region. The aim of the study is to determine the prerequisites for the formation of an interregional tourism and recreation cluster of the Upper Volga macro-region (Vladimir, Yaroslavl, Ivanovo, Kostroma regions) based on the calculation of the clustering potential index and consideration of the indicators of tourism and recreation development of the united regions. We note currently existing objective prerequisites for the formation of an interregional cluster of the Upper Volga macro-region in tourism and recreation. At the same time, this fact does not lead to a full and uniform development of the region’s tourist and recreational potential, which requires to give these processes a systematic character (state regulation). The article identifies the factors constraining the development of tourism and recreation sphere in the formation of interregional tourism and recreation cluster, and proposes the directions of joint work of the authorities of the integrated regions for their minimization. The research applies general scientific methods (analysis and synthesis), economic and statistical methods, methods for identifying clusters and assessing the potential of clustering of regions. The research novelty lies in the interregional character of the assessment of the potential for the formation of tourism and recreation cluster. This aspect increases the resource endowment of the cluster and creates prerequisites for obtaining additional positive effects from its functioning. The results of the work may be of interest to specialized structural subdivisions of regional government bodies (Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Tourism of the Vladimir Region, Ministry of Tourism of the Yaroslavl Region, Department of Tourism of the Ivanovo Region administration and Department of Culture and Tourism of the Kostroma Region administration), as well as researchers dealing with the issues of interregional integration, uneven socio-economic development of territories
Keywords
macro-region, tourism and recreational potential of the region, integration, localization index and clustering potential, tourism and recreational cluster