Comfortable Urban Environment as a Factor of Regional Tourism Development

ANNOTATION Research problem and degree of the research: The study is devoted to identifying the influence of the quality of the urban environment as a factor in the development of tourism in the regions. Domestic tourism, as the experience with COVID-19 has shown, becomes both an engine of economic development of regions, and a solution to the problem of lack of opportunities or health safety when traveling abroad. Problematic issue: What is a comfortable urban environment as a factor in the development of tourism in the region? The article considers one of the factors influencing the development of tourism in Russian cities. Therefore, if we consider the influence of this factor and focus it also on tourists, we can accelerate the development of the industry. This factor is a comfortable urban environment. Subject of the article: Comfortable urban environment development. The purpose of the study: is to identify the patterns between the level of development of the urban environment and the development of tourism in the regions and their tourist attractiveness. Research methods: statistical analysis of open data of the Federal Tourism Agency by region, comparative quantitative analysis of the quality of the urban environment and the development of tourism in the regions, general scientific research methods. The article provides a quantitative analysis of the quality indices of the urban environment of cities and regions, and uses its own methodology for calculating the tourist attractiveness of regions as domestic tourist destinations. The study did not reveal a direct relationship between the quality of the urban environment and the tourist attractiveness of the regions. However, there is a reason that the quality of the urban environment has an indirect impact on these indicators: tourists do not go directly to “see” the urban environment, but the development of the urban network and urban infrastructure has a positive impact on the level of attractiveness and tourism. The study leaves several open questions, including changing the approach to assessing the attractiveness of regions, identifying the elements that most affect tourist preferences and impressions from the method of calculating the urban quality index, how much influence is the time lag between the beginning of the development of a comfortable urban environment and the first results in the form of a growing tourist flow (the index is calculated from 2018; the priority project was approved in 2016).


INTRODUCTION
Relevance and novelty: In the 21st century, tourism has come to play an important role in the global economy -its share of global GDP reached 10.4% in 2019, and tourism and related industries employed more than 300 million people. These data justify the great attention to the tourism sector on the part of business and the state, which constantly stimulates the development of the industry because tourists leave their money in the country's economy. The issues of tourism research are more relevant than ever after the pandemic that hit the world and its consequences in the form of the fall of the tourism and hospitality industry.
Problematic issue: What is a comfortable urban environment as a factor in the development of tourism in the region? The article considers one of the factors influencing the development of tourism in Russian cities. Therefore, if we consider the influence of this factor and focus it also on tourists, we can accelerate the development of the industry. This factor is a comfortable urban environment.
Subject of the article: Comfortable urban environment development.
The aim: To reveal a comfortable urban environment as a factor in the development of tourism in the region.

Research methods and methodology: Statistical analysis of open data of the Federal Tourism
Agency by region, comparative quantitative analysis of the quality of the urban environment and the development of tourism in the regions, general scientific research methods. The article provides a quantitative analysis of the quality indices of the urban environment of cities and regions, and uses its own methodology for calculating the tourist attractiveness of regions as domestic tourist destinations.

DEFINING THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT
There is no single interpretation of the concept of "urban environment". In foreign practices, broader ones are used -liveability and quality of life, which are a wide set of different elements that take into account the entire external environment. According to Britannica, quality of life is the degree to which a person is healthy (meaning physical, mental, etc., replaced by "well-being", "well-being"), feels comfortable in life, and is able to enjoy it. By definition, it is clear that it is very broad and quite subjective -people have different degrees of perception of their level and quality of life.
This combination of factors dissolves the influence of the urban environment (or rather its comfort) on the assessment of satisfaction with the quality of life. Therefore, the indicators of world practice are not applicable in the context of the study.
In Russian practice, there is no single approach to the definition of the urban environment: neither researchers nor legislators. Based on the passport of the State Priority Project "Formation of a comfortable urban environment", it can be assumed that the Government of the Russian Federation understands the urban environment as a single space, or the territory of the city, which includes various elements that make up the functioning of the city, which are evaluated according to the following criteria: safety, com- House and yard are the places associated with the place of residence of citizens. Transit spacesthe movement of citizens from one object to another (excluding personal and public transport). Points of attraction -places used by citizens for spending time outside the house.
Another approach is used in the Urban Environment Quality Index, created during the implementation of the project "Creating a comfortable Urban Environment".
The measurement methodology is as follows: the city consists of six spaces (they are not mutually exclusive, that is, they can intersect): 1. Housing and adjacent spaces -multi-apartment residential buildings and individual residential sector; 2. Green spaces -parks, squares, gardens, etc.; 3. Public and business infrastructure and adjacent spaces -objects of services and services, public catering, administrative and business objects; 4. Social and leisure infrastructure and surrounding areas-educational, medical, cultural institutions, as well as sports, leisure, and recreation; 5. Street and road network -streets, roads; 6. Citywide space -the whole city.
Based on two approaches, it is possible to determine within the framework of this study that the urban environment is a set of elements of the life of citizens: places of residence, work, pastime, recreation, entertainment within the city boundaries, as well as their condition, quantitative and qualitative assessment by residents and authorities.

COMFORTABLE URBAN ENVIRONMENT AS A FACTOR OF TOURISM DEVELOPMENT
The influence of the urban environment factor must be taken into account for the reason that it is an integral part of the tourist destination, the development of which determines the tourist flow, the attractiveness of the territory, the attendance, and the state of tourism-related industries-accommodation facilities (hotels, hostels), public catering.
Even though the primary criterion of satisfaction with a trip is the quality of the tourist product and the assessment of the rest and the entire destination should depend more on it, there are other criteria.
The tourism industry has its specific characteristics: for example, the basis of the offer is not the service itself, but the impression that the tourist receives. Therefore, the travel industry is called one of the main elements of the experience industry.
In the course of the study, a hypothesis is put forward: that the high level of comfort of the urban environment has a positive impact on the development of tourism and is a competitive advantage of the territory, the city.
We proceed from the assumption that a comfortable urban environment creates an overall impression of the trip, as it expands the possibilities for learning about the destination -to go beyond the boundaries of "tourist areas" (for example, the historical center of Istanbul). With a high level of development of the urban environment, the distance of tourist penetration into the city increases distance from attractions, which in turn reduces the differentiation of the development of tourist and non-tourist areas of the city.
However, not all the elements of the urban environment identified by the BCG and taken into account in the Urban Environment Quality Index are important for tourists: some have a lot of weight, some almost none. So, for example, housing and utilities, business spaces have little impact, since they do not fall into the field of view of tourists who are non-residents of the city.

COMPARISON OF THE LEVELS OF THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT OF THE REGIONS
To

RESEARCH RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Novosibirsk region and Perm Krai.
According to Open sources of the Federal Tourism Agency, the number placed in the collective means of accommodation of citizens of Russia in the Novosibirsk region in 2018 -2019 was higher than the rates in the Perm region at 38 -39%, even though the total area of the room Fund of collective accommodation facilities in the Novosibirsk region Perm was higher by 16 -20% for the same period (See Table. 3).   Based on these data, it can be assumed that the tourist attractiveness and level of tourism development in the Chuvash Republic as a whole are higher than that of the Kursk region, since the number of Russian citizens who are located in the collective accommodation facilities of the republic is much higher than that of the Kursk region.
This assumption is also confirmed by the quality of the urban environment of the regions: the average level of quality of the urban environment of Chuvashia from 2018 to 2020 increased from 179 points to 192, while in the Kursk region -from 169 to 181.

CONCLUSIONS AND PERSPECTIVES
Thus, the study did not reveal a direct relationship between the quality of the urban environment and the tourist attractiveness of the regions. However, there is a reason that the quality of the urban environment has an indirect impact on these indicators: tourists do not go directly to "see" the urban envi- When answering these questions, the comfortable urban environment will be studied in more detail as a factor in the development of tourism and the tourist attractiveness of cities and regions. статистический анализ открытых данных Ростуризма по регионам, сравнительный количественный анализ качества городской среды и развития туризма в регионах, общенаучные методы исследования. В статье представлен количественный анализ показателей качества городской среды городов и регионов, а также использована собственная методика расчета туристской привлекательности регионов как внутренних туристических направлений.