The Role of Local Actors in Social Constructing of Tourist Attractions in Small Russian Towns

Abstract

This article is aimed to identify social practices of small towns local actors in the process of tourism development. In the first part we discuss the theoretical and methodological base of the research: integrative sociological approach to the analysis of tourism. The author describes the methodology and methods of its own sociological case-study of six cities. The main part of article includes development of specific model of participation of local actors in the process of constructing of tourist attractions. We (a) analyze the practices of urban activists and enthusiasts; (b) investigate the specific of the formation of new urban communities accumulating social tourism resources; (c) identify characteristics of functioning prototype of the creative class in the province, as well as the specifics of the expansion of the tourism market by dint of including the self-employed and budget organizations. Finally, the author notes that local actors are key subjects of constructing of tourist attraction in small Russian towns. The author offers several practical recommendations for the development of tourism in this territories.