1. Tourism cluster development in Russia: The case of Altai region
IMTC Madrid
Tourism cluster development in Russia: The case of Altai region
Marina Sheresheva
Yury Vladimirov
Lomonosov Moscow State University
Faculty of Economics

2. Tourism clusters in Russia
The purpose was to review tourism cluster initiatives in Russia, particularly, tourism cluster formation processes, and investigate the role of local and federal government in promoting domestic tourism destinations with the help of tourism clusters.
Started in 2016 with “Tourism clusters in Russia: What are their key features? The case of Vologda region” (Anna Alexandrova, Yury Vladimirov 2016)
In summary, the results of this research should provide luxury hotel management with guidelines to improve customer service and enhance customer relationships.

3. Tourism clusters in Russia
Research questions: The main output of this paper is a review of Russian tourism cluster formation and development based on the example of the Altai region. It is of value to practitioners, researchers, policymakers and other stakeholders specializing in cluster research and tourism cluster development.
In summary, the results of this research should provide luxury hotel management with guidelines to improve customer service and enhance customer relationships.

4. Major trends in the Russian tourism sector
However: weak local infrastructure, low involvement of SME’s and lack of established quality standards 3
Decrease in outbound tourism, the growth of domestic tourism 1
2016 г.
30-40% decrease in number of Russian tourists travelling abroad
Sharp drops in revenues and sales (by an average of 40% annually)
Slower growth of hotel deals in Russia by 5.5 percentage points
High hotel rates in peak seasons
No instruments for coordination of marketing activities
Little public-private partnership success stories
Fast growing luxury domestic segment 2
Revenue growth in 2014: 36%
Preferred destination : Moscow and St. Petersburg, Vologda and Atlai regions.
Peak season: Dec-Jan
“Replacement” policy (Alpine for Atlai)
Due to the unstable economic environment, luxury hotels which are situated mainly in Moscow and St. Petersburg are now facing a number of difficulties. Still, most hotel operators have not changed their plans on the Russian market (Ernst & Young, 2014, 2015) and thus seek to be more attractive for target consumers.
Growing importance of cluster development and support

5. Tourism clusters in Russia: models
infrastructure model, which is realized under the federal target program "Development of domestic and inbound tourism in the Russian Federation ( )" (hereinafter - FTP) by the Federal Agency for Tourism (Rosturizm). Focused on big infrastructure projects on a public-private partnership basis.
collaborative model, which is implemented by the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation through regional centers of cluster development programs to support small and medium-sized enterprises.
In summary, the results of this research should provide luxury hotel management with guidelines to improve customer service and enhance customer relationships.

6. ALTAI REGION Tourism cluster findings
There is a number of unique natural resources that can significantly contribute to the attractiveness of the destination;
There are some intra-cluster standards such as investment standard.
Tourism, transport and related infrastructure is underdeveloped.
There is no unified marketing strategy and no destination brand positioning.
The cluster develops in the paradigm of public-private partnership, with the emphasis on the involvement of big private companies.
A significant problem is the cluster of seasonality and the so-called "weekend tourism", which leads to peak load capacity.
There is lack of stable linkages with other clusters in the Siberian region, and partnership programs with educational institutions for training
Experts were asked what are the current state and prospects for luxury hotel business in Russia, how the unfavorable economic situation has affected luxury hotels, practitioners were also asked what steps their hotels make to retain and attract customers, what are the key factors affecting customer satisfaction and loyalty in this segment. Each interview was about 30 minutes long. All interviews were recorded, transcripts were analyzed, transcripts coding was used to get a set of factors that affect the perceived value of luxury hotel services.

7. Preliminary conclusions and further research
There are two main cluster models used, both on a public-private partnership basis. Considerable funds are allocated by Russian federal government and local government of a number of regions, private initiatives are supported.
The Altai tourism cluster is at the initial stage of formation, with quite good prospects. It has its unique set of local competitive advantages. There are no instruments for coordination of marketing activities, advertising and price policy, no coordination and interaction with other emerging tourism clusters in the Siberia.
Network and cluster development marketing approach is needed. More active collaboration of cluster members, as well as monitoring and further analysis of the Altai tourism cluster development is required
Positioning the region as a kind of "alpine region" for the inhabitants of Siberia, Russian and foreign guests ", as well on the development of health and spa tourism, could help to rise the attraction of the Altai destination, both for Russian and foreign tourists
Recent research has shown that most customers complain about the issues that really matter and, at the same time, they consider as really improvable. As consumers of luxury hotels are very demanding, any mistake on the part of the hotel staff could lead to loosing clients. Therefore negative feedback can be considered to be the most valuable and worth to be thoroughly analyzed by hotel should pay particularly close attention to subsequently eliminate the risk of client dissatisfaction.