Potential of tourism development in the Eurasian Economic Union

Tourism is a fast-growing sector of world economy and a profitable national and international business. In this study, we identify the current trends in the development of international tourism and its role in the economic development of countries. For EEU countries, the development of the tourism industry is important in the context of increasing non-primary exports and enhancing participation in international economic relations. We also reveal the insignificant contribution of EEU countries to the world export of tourist services and to the regional gross product. On the basis of the open data of international organizations, we show the uneven development of tourism in EEU countries and its insignificant effect on national economies. We conducted the SWOT analysis of the EEU tourism market, and considered the effect of economic integration on the liberalization of the tourism market in EEU countries. It is manifested in the formation of a single market of tourism services in the EEU and the unification of working conditions for tourism business entities in its member countries. The main problems of and the perspective directions for the development of tourism in EEU states are formulated.