Moscow in city-centric structure of global tourism space

Modern global cities are not just general actors of world politics and international centers of power, but also are the major tourist destinations. Moscow is the only urban agglomeration in the Russian Federation, which is included in all major global city rankings and in special tourism rankings as well. The article focuses on the comparative analysis of tourism development in Moscow and other global cities. The trends common to most global urban tourist destinations along with Moscow specific trends are described. They are linked with the schedule and structure of tourist flows, transport accessibility, structural changes in accommodation facilities, tours organization, tourism diversification, etc. Statistical analysis shows that tourist flows continue to increase and focus in global cities, Moscow in particular. Worldwide geographical structure of inbound tourist flows is typical for Moscow as well as for other global cities. Geographical diversification is a prerequisite and also a tool for sustainable tourism development in Moscow. The article discusses structural changes in Moscow hospitality industry, showing trends to diversification of accommodation facilities in global cities and increasing availability of mass tourism accommodation. A lot of attention is paid to Moscow tourism promotion on domestic and global tourism markets by joint efforts of the city tourism authorities and tourism companies. Diversification of tourism types is also a necessary condition for the progress of travel industry in Moscow.