Tourism Industry in Russia and Global Covid-19 Pandemic: Threats, Counteractions, Trends

The present paper is dedicated to COVID-19 pandemic impact that manifested itself around the world since the end of 2019 and significantly affected the tourism and hospitality industry. In Russia and in the world, tourism is among industries the most affected by the consequences of restrictions and anti-epidemiological measures against COVID-19. The article divides the examples of mechanisms for overcoming the epidemic consequences in tourism, developed by different states and in Russia, in 9 groups (categories), and considers them in a comparative aspect. COVID-19 exacerbated relationship problems between two main subjects of the tourism market - tour operators and travel agents. Numerous mechanisms of government supporting Russian tourism industry do not work to the full and are not effective enough. The article discusses these problems, highlights the main trends and prospects of the tourism industry in Russia and in the world, and tries to outline the contours of the "post-Сovid" future of the tourism sector. The industry is in deep crisis, but at the same time, it expects new breakthrough ideas and technologies, creative solutions and non-standard proposals. Probably, the tourism projects, formed on these foundations and mechanisms, will become new drivers of industry growth after the end of the pandemic.  
Key words: Tourism industry; COVID-19 pandemic impact on tourism; Tourism industry in Russia; Global tourism crisis; Trends and measures to supporting subjects of the tourism market.


INTRODUCTION
The tourism industry remains one of the preferable forms of leisure of modern civilization. Tourists more often are moved by the quest of authentic (frenetic) experiences in others they look for heritage-related sites to consume. We live in a world where travelling equates to a global right. In other words, the tourism industry has successfully adapted to countless culture, geographies and landscapes spanning through different nations and economies worldwide.
Tourism is not only one of the fastest-growing and most profitable sectors of the economy both globally and nationally, but also a popular form of leisure and recreation. The recent virus outbreak of COVID19 has pushed the industry into a difficult position . The strict lockdown imposed by governments associated with the borders and airspaces closuresall they step oriented to stop the pandemic-placed the tourism industry in jeopardy.
The tourism industry already has faced in the past similar states of emergencies or epidemics but nothing than corrosive than COVID19. Hence, it is tempting to say that SARS outbreak which left more than 774 deceases in Asia (2003) affected negatively the economies of the region which will be whipped by many other virus outbreaks in the years to come. Big problems need a big solution. Policymakers and authorities made from tourism security issues a global agenda investing in financial resources to develop programs and plans of contingency that placate the negative effects of pandemics in the developing economies (Afanasiev, Afanasieva, Sarancha, Oborin, 2020).
As the previous argument is given, the tourism industry has repeatedly experienced local shocks associated with epidemics, natural and man-made disasters. In this regard, theoretical, analytical and practical experience has been accumulated in studying the consequences of their impact on the industry and society as a whole, mechanisms have been developed and implemented to overcome the negative consequences and restore tourism in the affected countries and regions , Al-Tawfiq, J. A., Zumla, A., & Memish, Z. A., 2014, Bell, C., Devarajan, S., & Gersbach, H., 2003, Berry, M., Gamieldien, J., & Fielding, B. C., 2015 For some reasons, there are no homogenous programs to be applied in all contexts. Above all in the case of COVID19 which escaped to the controls of nations mushrooming through the world. At the same time, some scholars alert on the destructive nature of tourism in the global ecology paving the ways for the rise of unparallel viruses.
The modern tourism industry as well as the high levels of mobilities, without mentioning the overcrowding which seems to be characteristic of cities is fertile ground for the dissemination of a lethal virus (Hilsenrath, 2020). To set an example, In Russia, the sector employs than four million people (5.6% of total employment). At the same time, according to the data for 2019, tourism accounted for 5% of the country's economy, and the contribution to GDP was 5.5 trillion rubles (SIA, 2020).
At the same time, it was tourism that turned out to be one of the most affected industries due to the economic consequences of Coronavirous infection, including a drop in demand, restrictions on the work of organizations and institutions of a tourist profile. Tourism in Russia is one of the few service industries that provide significant export of services. The industry in Russia is mainly represented by small and mediumsized businesses, which do not have financial reserves to fulfil financial obligations and keep workplaces.
The present paper is dedicated to COVID-19 pandemic impact that manifested itself around the world since the end of 2019 and significantly affected the tourism and hospitality industry. In Russia and in the world, tourism is among industries the most affected by the consequences of restrictions and antiepidemiological measures against COVID-19. At the same time, the trend of forming deep deferred demand is one of the main current tendencies. It can be illustrated through the case of Russia in the summer period of 2020, when trips within the country to coastal tourist zones were allowed.
At the end of March 2020, the Russian authorities decided to close the borders, a self-isolation regime was introduced in the country, the severity of which varied in the regions depending on the conditions and the incidence rate. This regime, designed to dampen the rise in morbidity in the country, negatively affected the tourism industry as a whole, jeopardizing the existence of small travel agency companies, and causing losses to large players in the tourism market. At the same time, the tourism industry was completely unprepared for the emergence of such a global negative phenomenon as a pandemic, and it led to many bankruptcies of market players.
The first section of the article is dedicated to overview scientific works on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the tourism industry for the understanding the trends and research areas; the second section is intended for describing the problems of tourism industry caused by restrictions connected with COVID-19; in the third part we are going to explore tourism industry support mechanisms in the Russia and in the world and in the fourth part -to understand why they don't work in our country. The fifth part is dedicated to revealing the trends and prospects in the tourism industry in Russia and the world.

ANALYSIS OF SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS ON RESEARCH ISSUES
The impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had on the development of the tourism sector and society as a whole has led to an increased interest in this issue from both scientists and practitioners.
In a short period since February 2020, an extensive volume of analytical articles, forecast materials and practical recommendations for the recovery of the economy and tourism in the post-Covid period has been accumulated. Many publications today are devoted to assessing the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic impact on the tourism industry, as well as studying the issues of industry sustainability, state support mechanisms.
Experts are increasingly expressing the opinion that the pandemic and the ensuing crisis are the beginning of a new round in the development of society, the economy and, in particular, tourism. The current situation makes it possible to rethink the existing business models and approaches to the sale of tourism products, the principles of the functioning of tourist spaces, stimulates the development of innovations and digitalization of the industry, works according to the principle of natural selection -"the strongest survives" (in particular, we find such thoughts in , Davies, 2020Gills, 2020;Mair, 2020;Politico, 2020). McKinsey and Company (2020:1) see the pandemic not only as a global health crisis, but also as a phenomenon of inevitable restructuring of the global economic order, which is reflected in the tourism industry today.
At the same time, we can say that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the discussion about the mechanisms and principles of sustainable development of world tourism. Now we can see clearly that there has always been more theory and talk in this than real practical mechanisms for ensuring this sustainability for the industry.
As a result, we can state that the tourism industry has not been able to form a single effective mechanism of resilience in the face of the global threat and crisis, and tourism is forced to save the governments of all countries, providing various measures of support to the enterprises and people employed in it. Obviously, in the future it is necessary to develop concrete, and not abstract, as today, criteria of sustainability for the industry, measured and, therefore, predictable, in specific measurable indicators and parameters.
The pandemic can be seen as an opportunity to rebuild and improve the productivity of the entire tourism system both at the macro level (Prayag, 2020) and at the level of individual tourist centers, the survival of the most competitive tourism activities, and the transformation of industries that are stagnant due to quarantine restrictions.
Many destinations that previously experienced overtourism (for example, Venice, Barcelona, Prague, etc.) are now rethinking their tourism systems and approaches to managing the industry, paying more attention to the needs of residents. One can state the fact that the phenomenon of overtourism has disappeared, which was unthinkable a year ago.
For example, the Barcelona authorities are planning to "open" the residents of the city of the Rambla Boulevard, the main tourist artery, which the locals have always bypassed due to the crowds of tourists and the high cost. The boulevard will be transformed into a cultural center, reduced rents for entrepreneurs to lower prices and attract residents. The transformations will affect the famous Liceo Theater, where instead of one hall in the building they will equip a multifunctional space not only for theatrical performances, but also for exhibitions, concerts and performances. Changes towards greater openness to the local community will also affect the popular La Boqueria market and restaurants on the boulevard.
In Venice, where the locals suffered from overtourism, and even organized the "funeral of Venice", today they are out of work (in the tourist sector of the city before the pandemic, about 25 thousand people were employed) and income from housing. The almost complete shutdown of the industry made both residents and authorities think about how to make tourism more responsible and how to stop relying only on it (Momigliano A., 2020).
There are proposals to reboot the industry and the authorities propose in the future to restrict access for tourists to the historic city center using a system of quotas and booking (this will not apply to residents of the city and hotel guests). The mayor Luigi Brunyaro said the city officials hope to "regulate tourist flows so that they are compatible with the daily life of Venetians" (Momigliano A., 2020). Besides, it is planned to develop other types of tourism to disperse tourists throughout the city (most of the tourists in Venice before the pandemic stayed in the historic part of the city and did not leave it during their entire stay).
Experts propose to rely on educational, scientific or business tourism through the formation of an attractive business environment, as well as to promote Venice as a Christmas destination for wealthy foreign tourists, preparing special cultural programs in conjunction with museums. In many countries, the authorities are seeking to turn the pandemic into an impetus for the development of domestic tourism through the introduction of mechanisms to stimulate travel of their citizens within the country.
On the other hand, any destination can be considered as a tourist territorial system, which has a certain level of resistance to external crises (Prayag, 2020). The sustainability potential depends on the amount of financial resources in the industry and the destination, the success of pre-crisis management, the sequence of development, diversification of tourism activities, the strength of the destination brand, the availability of qualified personnel, as well as the duration of the crisis period, the strength of the negative factor and competent crisis management. And the examples listed above are quite resilient socio-economic systems with a high margin of safety for them, even in a pandemic; a stable deferred demand is formed.
However, residents and authorities of not so stable destinations, representatives of the tourism industry see in a pandemic only a rapidly approaching end. It is difficult to plan activities in conditions of uncertainty, especially if the territory is entirely dependent on the tourism industry, if a financial safety cushion has not been created and tourism development has occurred spontaneously. Many emerging market beach destinations, such as Albania and Montenegro, have always been highly seasonal, with the bulk of tourism revenue coming in the summer season.
That is why such destinations were the first to open the borders for tourists, which subsequently influenced the formation of the pandemic second wave. Therefore, the views that everything will change for the better or that economic development, including tourism, will become more sustainable are not a foregone conclusion (Mair, 2020, Prayag, G. 2020), but questions of understanding the COVID-19 pandemic as an evolutionary impulse for industries are highly controversial and disputable. Let's consider and characterize the main problems of the tourism industry in Russia in connection with the manifestations of the COVID-19 pandemic consequences.

PROBLEMS OF INTERACTION AMONG THE SUBJECTS OF THE TOURISM MARKET
The covid-19 pandemic has identified and exacerbated a number of critical issues across all aspects of the industry. Lack of coordination between tour operators and travel agents caused mistrusting to organized tourism in tourists, and as a result, a drop in industry revenues and crisis among travel agencies. The pandemic also affected the activities of hotel enterprises, the catering sector, excursion affair, the system of training personnel in tourism, etc. Let us consider in detail the problem of each of these areas.

Problems of Relationship of Travel Agents and Tour Operators
The organization of the tourism sector is quite complicated in Russia. Package tours are developed by tour operators, while the function of selling a tour package belongs to travel agencies. The main function of a travel agent is the selection of a tour depending on the needs of the tourist, advice on choosing a destination, communication between the tourist and the tour operator in case of the programs violation, the tourist's refusal to travel and other circumstances.
Tour operator companies, which previously saw in travel agents as reliable distribution channels for their products, in recent years, have been trying to reach the consumer of travel services directly, creating sales functionality on their websites. That is, now a tourist does not need to contact a travel agent to purchase a tour. Travel agents are gradually losing their audience.
The coronavirus pandemic has significantly exacerbated the problems of relations between tour operators and travel agents. The claims of tourists who have purchased package tours are directed primarily to travel agents, while the latter transfer money from tourists to tour operators, leaving only a small commission for themselves. Therefore, tourists, turning with legal claims to travel agents, as a rule, do not receive their satisfaction, or the collection takes place from the travel agent, who challenges the court decision in the future. Travel agents make the following claims to tour operators, including in connection with the pandemic: -Weak feedback, requests from travel agents after booking remain unanswered or an answer is given within two to three days; -Violation of the declared travel agent reward programs; -Changes in the tour program without agreement with the travel agent and the tourist, which causes complaints from tourists; -Unclear mechanism for transferring tours or refunds, violation of replacement conditions (for example, replacing a beach tour in Greece with a cheaper one in Turkey); -Travel agents did not receive consulting support from tour operators during the quarantine restrictions period in March-June 2020, in terms of interaction with tourists on the return or transfer of tours; -Travel agents and tour operators could not organize full-fledged cooperation for a joint rapid response to the challenges of coronavirus infection; -An unclear mechanism for returning funds to a tourist in case of COVID-19 detection on the eve of the trip, most often the tour is canceled with large fines for the tourist.
The latter claim led to the fact that tourists, having a positive test or even the first symptoms of the disease, went on a trip, fearing to completely lose money for an already paid tour. This largely led to the spread of the infection. This problem was common for tourists from many countries.

The Actions of the Host Parties
The actions of the host parties have become a significant problem in the relationship between tour operators and travel agencies. For example, there were a lot of cases when tourists, arriving in Turkey, on the second or third day learned from the hotel administration that they had contacted a covid patient on a transfer bus. Such tourists were isolated in a room to comply with a two-week quarantine, and many people whose tour was designed for a smaller number of days had to pay extra for their stay on the remaining days and independently purchase a return ticket.
A similar thing was observed in Cuba, which recently opened its borders for Russian tourists. Upon arrival, guests of the country must take a test for COVID-19, and given the fact that people were afraid of losing money for the tour, many went on a trip without taking a test before the trip. And upon the fact of identifying COVID tourists, the mechanism of their stay in the country was the same -a two-week quarantine and additional payments for accommodation and a return ticket.
At the same time, tourists first of all turned for help to travel agents from whom they purchased tours, and those -to tour operators who have representatives in the host country. However, due to the weak connection between the tour operator and the travel agent, the chain of actions was cut off at some stage, and tourists were left alone with their problems.
Given the inconsistency of actions to take tourists out of quarantined destinations in March 2020, such situations have aggravated the mistrust of tourists in mass organized tourism, which in the near future will lead to an increase in the number of independent tourists and a narrowing of the consumer market of tour operators and travel agents. In addition, in the near future, tour operators will implement the postponed tours (until the end of 2021), which, together with the above mentioned information will delay the industry recovery for years.
Companies faced not only the formation of a serious cash gap due to the fact that large amounts of taxes were paid before the start of restrictive measures and there are prepayments all over the world, but also with numerous demands from tourists to return deposits for tours. Revenue of 95% companies in the tourism industry during the period of self-isolation fell to zero, and the depth of cancellation of bookings for tours in Russia was 3-6 months (50-80%), for outbound tourism -100% with a booking depth of 4-7 months.
In addition, the crisis management of the industry is faced with the fact that the planning of activities is carried out in conditions of uncertainty -it is unclear how the morbidity statistics will increase and in which regions, what measures will be introduced by the authorities to minimize this process, which destinations will be open to tourists and how long.
For example, a long-term self-isolation regime in many regions of Russia ended at the end of June, at that time popular inland beach destinations openedthe southern coast of Crimea, the coast of the Krasnodar Territory and the Baltic Sea. Turkey, Cuba, Abkhazia and a number of other countries have opened their borders for tourists from Russia. 6 The restrictions were lifted almost at the beginning of the tourist season, and the tourism business took off, but since September the incidence had increased sharply, which led to the resumption of restrictions, although not on a full scale.
Accordingly, representatives of the tourism business are asking questions: should they wait for a new closure of borders and when, how long will European countries be closed, will new quarantine restrictions be introduced in Russia and to what extent? All these situations make it difficult to find ways out of a crisis situation.

Functioning of the Hotel Sector
Another problem is the functioning of the hotel sector. Firstly, the hotel enterprises themselves today are forced to spend funds on ensuring sanitary and hygienic safety measures (purchase masks, antiseptics, etc.). There is a subsidy in the envisaged measures of state support for the needs of the enterprise to ensure sanitary and hygienic safety conditions, but it is a one-time subsidy, and its volume is not sufficient to cover the costs of hotels.
In addition, the industry has already suffered losses during the period of self-isolation in Russia and still bears them due to a decrease in the number of inbound tourists. This led to a significant decrease in the load of collective accommodation facilities in Russia -during the period of self-isolation up to 0-3%. Many hotels are demanding a negative test for COVID-19, that is why tourists are using alternative accommodation.
At popular domestic Russian resorts and beach destinations, a large gray market for private housing has long been active. The owners of such apartments, as a rule, do not pay special attention to compliance with measures to prevent the spread of infection, since they do not need certification. Some hotels tried to offer self-isolation services between March and June 2020, but this idea did not gain wide popularity among guests. In addition, many Russian families are cutting their expenses, and today they are choosing short trips with accommodation in inexpensive accommodation facilities or apartments with a kitchen in order to be able to cook their own food and not visit cafes and restaurants in destinations. All this reduces both the income of the hotel industry in Russia and the income from tourism in the country's tourist destinations.

The Excursion Sphere of the Country
The excursion sphere of the country is also undergoing a crisis stage. The ban on excursions in popular sightseeing destinations -such as Moscow or St. Petersburg was lifted last, when beach destinations had been already receiving tourists.
The excursion business in Russia is represented mainly by small businesses -the so-called individual entrepreneurs. Most often these are guides who work "for themselves", whose main source of income is the excursions they conduct. Therefore, the ban on excursions reduced the income of the guides to nothing, in fact, a large staff of workers in the excursion sphere ended up for a long period without money and without work.
Some tour guides have tried to go online, conducting online tours and virtual walks, as well as educational lectures and master classes. But given that most of the income from the excursion sphere in popular destinations is formed by inbound tourists, such a step helped only temporarily stay "afloat" and did not become a format for "restructuring" the model of the excursion industry.
In museum institutions in Russia, the guides also stopped their main activities for a while, but at the same time, the financing of the cultural sphere was carried out in full, which allowed many state and municipal museums to keep the salaries of their employees, including the guides.

Transportation and Catering Industry
COVID-19 pandemic has negative impact on transportation and catering industry. The most affected were small authentic cafes and restaurants, which, in addition to food, created a special atmosphere, representing thematic spaces (for example, recreating the Russian life of the 19th century, the Soviet past, a fairytale atmosphere, etc.), and which attracted tourists not with their cuisine, but with the atmosphere. A lot of these cafes and restaurants, whose concept was built on an interesting idea, were special tourist attractions, but like many small businesses did not have the resources to maintain an idle mode for 3 months. This led to the closure of many of them. On the other hand, public catering network points quickly reoriented to the delivery of their products, and thus overcame the crisis stage of self-isolation. Moreover, such enterprises expanded their activities into the post-quarantine stage due to work on food delivery.

River Transport and the River Cruise Industry
In the transport sector, river transport and the river cruise industry suffered the most. The reasons for that were the prolonged downtime of vehicles, as well as general negative trends in the industry, such as a limited navigation period in Russia (mainly from May to October), a small number of passengers carried and low profitability of the industry, low demand due to the high cost of tickets, obsolescence of the river cruise fleet and infrastructure, siltation of rivers and lack of proper measures to clean them. In addition, the industry in Russia reflects global trends in the cruise industry, for which the consequences of the coronavirus crisis can be more serious and long-term than for airline or travel companies in general.
During the epidemic, several cruise ships, including one operated by the Carnival Diamond Princess, became notorious for the quarantine announced on them during the voyage and hundreds of people infected on board. The reputation of cruises has been harmed by the often-spreading noroviruses on liners before, while the coronavirus epidemic is already strengthening tourists in the opinion that going on a cruise can get sick and be trapped in the middle of an open water area.
Another threat is that consumers of cruise products are dominated by older people, for example, according to the International Association of Cruise Lines, about a third of vacationers on sea cruises are over 60 years old. Older people are predicted to be more warier of cruises now, and they are not very popular among young people. The combination of these facts may well lead to the fact that the cruise market simply does not recover from the crisis.

Land and Air Transport
Land and air transport is being restored the fastest. Rail transportation is carried out by the large state corporation Russian Railways (RZD) and its subsidiary RZD-tour. Airlines in Russia are also large businesses, and with increased demand for transportation following the lifting of restrictions in late May and June, as well as taking into account government support, they were virtually unaffected, although the pandemic was expected to hit air travel hardest. Russian airports Sheremetyevo and Domodedovo entered the top ten most visited in 2020, along with the airports of Turkey.

The Tourism Training Sector
Another challenge is the tourism training sector. The transfer of many training institutions to the distance format showed the imperfection of the distance learning system. The problem has a psychological and technological basis.
The psychological aspect of the personnel training problem lies, on the one hand, in the unwillingness of Russian students to study remotely, their low motivation and self-organization, lack of close contact with the teacher, difficulties in perceiving lectures in the usual monologue format, and on the other hand, in the difficulties of teachers adapting to the distance format, inability or difficulties in transforming lecture material and using techniques for interacting with the audience in an online format.
Technical difficulties are connected with the lack of a high-quality Internet connection in some regions and settlements of the country, the peculiarities of educational platforms where the broadcast is delayed, which makes it impossible to conduct discussions, the teacher's limited choice of a convenient educational platform, the lack of adapted training systems for students (for example, booking systems simulators are available only in the computer labs of universities), limited access to online libraries and repositories (for example, subscription to Elsiver database resources in Russian universities is carried out using a grant support mechanism and is available only for the IP-addresses of a specific university, which makes it impossible for employees and students to work with them from home), etc.
On the other hand, there are positive examples of the COVID-19 pandemic impact on the educational industry in the field of tourism and hospitality in Russia. To minimize problems with access to educational resources, many Russian online repositories have opened free access to their materials during quarantine. Representatives of the industry and the leadership of specialized organizations, who previously, due to high employment, could not come to universities and relay their experience to students, are now actively involved in educational programs, because thanks to online platforms they can conduct events from home or office for students of both one and several universities. Students can connect to professional webinars and interact with industry representatives. Moreover, the number of training events held has increased significantly due to public initiative and measures of state support for the industry.

Objects of Entertainment Tourism
It should be especially noted objects of entertainment tourism. Theme parks and entertainment establishments operating in Russia have experienced a huge demand for their services after the lifting of quarantine measures. As an example, one can cite the theme park "Sochi-Park", which is popular among Russian tourists.
Despite the high prices, in the summer season, after the lifting of quarantine restrictions, the park's workload approached the usual, which suggests that despite the crisis and restrictions, tourists form a deferred demand for popular tourist facilities and destinations.
Reducing income and cutting costs, as well as time constraints, do not become a key factor influencing the choice of a tourist destination. This fact is taken into account today by many governing bodies of the tourism sector for planning the post-visual development of the industry and is expressed in a group of support measures related to the promotion of destinations and the formation of deferred demand.

TOURISM INDUSTRY SUPPORT MECHANISMS
All mechanisms for supporting the tourism industry in a pandemic that are used today in world practice can be divided into such groups: 1. Exemption from taxes/ fees/ fines -general temporary and partial tax incentives, various types of tax deferral, postponement or cancellation of contributions for health care and/ or social security, cancellation or suspension of air navigation, airport taxes, tourist tax, residence tax, etc., extension of the deadlines for updating national registers of organizations, exemption from prosecution of enterprises experiencing serious difficulties; revision of lawsuits not subject to appeal, etc. 2. Providing and maintaining liquidity -deferral of payments for utilities, reimbursement of expenses incurred by event organizers whose events in 2020 were postponed or canceled due to the pandemic and the crisis, rent cuts or rental subsidies, grants and subsidies, investment incentives, government loans with a very low interest or without interest, credit holidays, debt restructuring, etc.

Prevention of layoffs and provision of additional
jobs -short-term compensation and salary subsidies, suspension of employee layoffs. 4. Promoting future development: special support measures/ funds for strategic enterprises (for example, aircraft industry, tourism, hotel business, restaurant sector), consulting and information assistance to the tourism industry enterprises, measures of financial support in relation to high-tech and digital startups, professional training and training of a personnel reserve for the tourism industry on-line digital competencies, conducting special trainings for companies in the tourism sector on crisis management. 5. Development of domestic tourism: subsidized domestic travel vouchers, discount coupons, vouchers for the post-crisis period, financing of marketing campaigns for the future, rebranding, promotion of the country in the domestic and foreign markets.
In this regard, it seems appropriate to conduct a comparative description of measures to support tourism in Russia and abroad (table 1).
Table1 -Comparative analysis of market entities support measures by the state: world and Russian practice.

World practice Russian practice Financial assistance to businesses (subsidies, grants and interest-free loans for companies liquidity support)
▪ TurismodePortugal Portugal agency has established a line of support amounting to €60 million for tourist microenterprises which have fallen into financial difficulties.
▪ In Portugal the government has approved state-guaranteed credit lines for companies by having allocated 600 million Euros to the catering sector, 900 million Euros -collective accommodation facilities.
▪ In the Republic of Korea small and medium-sized travel companies can be granted concessional collateral-free loans for a total of $8.1 million at a low-interest rate (1%).
▪ In Hong Kong about 1,350 tourist products have been granted financial support from the Anti-epidemic Fund under the Programme of subsidizing of travel agents. Any travel agent meeting the criteria can be granted a lump-sum subsidy -over $10 thousand. To receive the payments, 98% of all the travel agents licensed in Hong Kong have been registered.
▪ Subsidies for tour operators for the damage compensation related to air transportation (3.5 billion Roubles have been allocated for recovery of tour operators' costs related to no return fares regarding air transportation, as well as organization of tourists transportation from foreign countries with an unfavorable epidemiological situation).
▪ Access to the Personal Liability Fund (PLF) of a tour operator 1 (a chance to use the accumulated funds of the PLF to return money to tourists). At present, the Federal law "On the basics of tourist activity in the Russian Federation" has been amended envisaging the use of the PLF funds of a tour operator for tourist payments in case of a failure of a tour operator to fulfill its obligations under the contract on the implementation of a tourist product due to the decision taken by a foreign country to restrict the entry of tourists into the country or emergence of a threat to tourist safety in a foreign country.
▪ To provide an additional support to tour operators, a chance to postpone (defer) an annual contribution to the PLF for the year 2020 until April 15, 2021 is envisaged.
▪ In Turkey an additional discount is granted following the air flights renewal for travel agencies having powers to buy group tickets with the discount.
▪ The government of Canada has adopted an emergency assistance and economic stimulus package amounting to 107 billion Canadian dollars (75 billion US dollars) for providing assistance to Canadians experiencing financial difficulties. Of them, 27 billion US dollars are aimed at direct support of Canadian workers and enterprises, another 55 billion US dollars are granted through deferral of tax payments.
▪ Tour operators' fees in the outbound tourism industry to the Reserve Fund of the Tour Pomoshch Association for the year 2020 have been suspended ( the fee for the year 2020 will amount to 1 Rouble) 2 .
▪ The postponement of the accounting statements and industry reporting submission, as well as the submission of data confirming a tour operator's accountability.
▪ Air companies reimbursement for outbound transportation of tourists.
▪ Renewal of licenses and permits from 15.03.2020 until 31.12.2020.
▪ The lump-sum subsidy granted on a non-reimbursable basis for partial compensation of grantees' costs related to the activities on the prevention of a new coronavirus infection held in the year of 2020.

Tax holidays, benefits and deferrals
▪ In Turkey payments to Social Security Funds and VAT deductions in different sectors, including travel agencies, have been suspended for 6 months. Collection of an accommodation tax has been rescheduled for November 2020. Besides, the Turkish authorities have suspended payments related to the hotel lease rights and profits share for 6 months. The VAT for the domestic air companies flights has been reduced from 18% to 1% within three months.
▪ In Germany companies have been allowed to defer tax payments until December 31, 2020.

▪ In Portugal the deadlines for tax payments and submission of other declarations have been extended
▪ (for instance, the deadline for the corporate income tax of Modelo 22 companies for the year of 2019 has been moved from May 31,2020 to July 31, 2020.
▪ Loan and refinancing of loans at the reduced rate of 8.5% for individual entrepreneurs, micro-enterprises and small businesses.
▪ The deferral of payments under the contracts on the state property lease concluded with small and medium-sized business entities.
▪ Companies doing business in the affected industries can receive a tax deferral or installment (advance payments) with deadlines in the year of 2020 apart from the VAT. For companies from the affected industries no penalties regarding the already accumulated tax debts will be imposed, a ban to prohibit taking decisions on the suspension of operations regarding accounts to secure the implementation of a decision on the enforcement of a tax, duty, insurance premium, penalties and (or) a fine is issued.
▪ Ban on sanctions for untimely submission of documents: deadlines for the submission of tax declarations have been extended for 3 months; starting dates for tax audits have been rescheduled.
▪ A moratorium for routine inspections of small and medium-sized businesses until June 30, 2020 and for the entire year of 2021. The only exception is unscheduled inspections on the grounds of causing harm to life and health of citizens, natural and technogenic emergencies.

Cancellation of deductables for social security from employees' salaries
▪ In the US tax payments for social security for employers and the self-employed have been postponed until January 1, 2021.
▪ In Spain for small and medium-sized enterprises not dismissing employees requirements on payment of fees to social security have been cancelled. The self-employed whose incomes have decreased by 75% and higher will be granted a subsidy and exempted from paying a tax for social security.
▪ In Sweden until June 30 employers' fees for social security have been reduced, an old age pension fee is paid only.
▪ For companies and individual entrepreneurs the total amount of insurance premiums has been reduced from 30 to 15% for a portion of salaries exceeding the minimum wage in the RF (12,130 Roubles). The rate of fees to the pension fund of Russia will amount to 10%, to the Federal fund of mandatory health insurance -5%. Fees to the Social Security Fund (on disability and maternity) are not paid.

Subsidizing of employees' salaries for the prevention of dismissals and jobs creation
▪ The government of Great Britain has launched a tourist destinations support scheme "Destination Management Resilience Scheme". It should retain the staff working with customers and support communication of travel companies with them. To finance companies on tourist destinations marketing -Destination Management Organizationsalmost €1,5 million have been allocated. The travel companies can seek assistance to cover the costs for keeping no more than two employees with the salary up to €2,8 thousand for one employee per month, as well as employers costs on insurance and pension fees within three months.
▪ In Italy a mechanism for suspension of employees dismissals has been launched.
▪ In Australia subsidies for the support of interns and trainees' salaries have been planned, besides the government will provide payments for keeping jobs (JobKeeper Payment) for enterprises entitled to it (including tourism industry enterprises), the turnover of which has decreased by more than 30%, if they have a turnover amounting to less than 1 billion US dollars, or by more than 50%, if they have a turnover amounting to more than 1 billion US dollars. After submission of applications the enterprises meeting the criteria will be allocated by the government 3,000 US dollars per month for one employee meeting the criteria within a maximum of 6 months.
▪ Interest-free loans for payment of salaries. Lending to enterprises from the affected industries for the payment of employees' salaries will be implemented by banks supported by the Central Bank. The loan guarantee is ensured by the VEB's guarantee (up to 75%). The loan will be granted at a rate of 0% within the first 6 months and 4% -within the next 6 months.
▪ SMEs entities (individual entrepreneurs and legal entities) doing business in the affected industries will be paid 1 minimum wage (12,130 Roubles) for each employee employed by the company providing that employment is kept at the level of no less than 90% from the number available for April 1, 2020. The measure will be valid from May 18, 2020 until the end of June 2020.

Communication and marketing companies for the formation of a deferred demand and destinations promotion
▪ In the Republic of Korea the government is promoting consumption by issuing discount coupons which can be used for the compensation of tourism costs.
▪ In Australia a campaign on the development of domestic tourism "Holiday Here This Year" has been relaunched. The site offers a collection of marketing tools which can be used by the tourism industry in order to restore the demand.
▪ In Portugal communication campaigns targeted at tourists on the provision of information about the consumers rights in times of crisis, advice on the protection of travelers, current restrictions and useful contacts are being implemented.
▪ Subsidized domestic traveling certificates /discount coupons, vouchers for the post-crisis period in Iceland, the Republic of Korea, Turkey, the Czech Republic.
▪ Funding of marketing companies for the future, re-branding, promotion of the country on the domestic and foreign markets in such countries as Australia, Italy, Spain, Iceland, Portugal, the Republic of Korea, Hong Kong, Iceland, China, Great Britain.
▪ The government of the RF has allocated 15 billion Roubles for the program stimulating domestic tourism designed by the Rostourismthe so-called tourist cashback for citizens taking tourist trips across the country.
▪ The program stimulating domestic tourism involving the return of funds to tourists at the rate of 20% from the tours cost, including hotel accommodation and air ticket for any transport, or hotel accommodation.
▪ The cashback program is valid for both tour operators customers and for independent travelers -not only a tour but also accommodation separately can be bought.
▪ Participation of tourist market entities (tour operators, hotels and others) in the program is voluntary. Thus, tourists are interested in having a rest in their country, and market entities-in the program participation as a promotion platform and motivated tourists are presented for them.
▪ For destinations and enterprises a grant support amounting to up to 3 million Roubles from the Federal Agency for Tourism (Rostourism) is being provided on a competitive basis.

Creation of digital platforms-navigators consolidating information about the tourism industry and support measures to assist companies in taking managerial decisions
▪ The Federal State Centre for best practices in the tourism industry of Germany has launched a platform on monitoring the coronavirus impact on the industry. The navigator collects and posts information for travel companies, including data on specific industry measures adopted by the government, as well as the news and the situation analysis in the tourism industry worldwide. The site has a "trends barometer in the tourism sector" where business expectations in the tourism industry are daily reflected.
▪ Free access to online-tours of museums, exhibitions, theatrical plays and cinema films on the portal kultura.rf

Training for the tourism industry companies on the creation and promotion of new products, digital technologies
▪ In Colombia trainings for the tourism sector companies on the anti-crisis management, as well as online chats for monitoring the situation in the industry and responding to entrepreneurs' requests have been launched.
▪ In Portugal scholarships for studies at the Institute for Employment and Vocational Training of Portugal (IEFP) are granted.

▪ The Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) is conducting webinars for the industry representatives with
▪ information about the current situation and opportunities for receiving support for companies to retain ▪ business every Wednesday.
▪ At the state level a grant support for educational institutions for the conduct of training programs and a series of master classes and webinars is provided.
▪ At the public level free educational webinars from business communities and industry-specific agencies on the anti-crisis management and distance work and others are conducted.

Use of infrastructure of the tourist sector in combating coronavirus
▪ Portugal, France, the US, Great Britain and Colombia are providing collective accommodation facilities for doctors, law enforcement officials and supporting services staff combating coronavirus. For instance, the Hotel and Tourism Association of Colombia COTELCO has provided 5,6 thousand rooms of its 70 affiliated hotels in 22 municipalities for the coronavirus elimination needs of the government.

Assistance to citizens
▪ In Iceland levying of the tourist accommodation tax has been suspended from April 1, 2020 until December 31, 2021.The payment of the above tax from January 1, 2020 until March 31, 2020 has been postponed until February 5, 2022. Residents of Iceland over the age of 18 years will receive from the government holiday packages for a total of 1,5 billion Iceland krones for traveling within the country.
▪ In Turkey fines for passengers' failure to show up on the flight according to the air tickets issued before March 19 and the air tickets which could not be used in the period from March 12 until April 12, 2020 will not be imposed. These tickets can be used within a year following the date of the air flights restrictions removal.
▪ Assistance to the citizens of the RF who are abroad having travel documents for the return to the RF in the period from March 16 until May 31, will be provided.
▪ A simplified form of the receipt of a sick leave certificate, an option to complete a sick leave certificate in online format, disability benefits increase.
▪ Social welfare benefits and allowances are extended automatically for 6 months-without additional certificates and personal presence.
▪ Loan benefits and holidays.
▪ Development of distance training programs.

WHY DO THE MECHANISMS FOR SUPPORTING THE TOURISM INDUSTRY IN RUSSIA NOT WORK TO THE FULL EXTENT?
First of all, many measures are designed mainly for the period of self-isolation from March to June 2020, but the crisis in the industry in the subsequent stage is only getting worse by closed borders, rescheduled tours, stricter quarantine measures in certain regions of the country, and by distrust of tourists in outbound destinations.
Secondly, the mechanisms for assisting are not fully thought out, and there are many restrictions and obstacles for entrepreneurs. For example, the maximum loan amount for which the borrower can apply to the lender with a request to change the terms and conditions of the credit agreement (loan agreement) should not exceed 300,000 rubles, and the enterprises that have debts more than this amount cannot claim this exemption.
The industry also does not approve of lending measures for enterprises to pay employees' salaries, because these loans will need to be paid back, and after a failed season and subsequent years of recovery, it is expected that the travel industry enterprises will have no funds to return these loans to credit organizations. Rented property benefits apply only to municipal properties, but not all entrepreneurs rent rooms in them. For example, many small travel agencies rent rooms in shopping malls which are usually in a private property.
The deferral of taxes and their cancellation in the second quarter of 2020 is also criticized by industry representatives because they have no funds to pay taxes since only repayments took place during this period.
The travel cash-back program has also obtained widespread criticism in the industry. The chosen deadlines for the implementation of the program were the reasons for this -the first stage was launched from August 21 to 28. By this time, many tourists have already vacated in the traditional beach destinations of the country.
Furthermore, the minimum cost of the tour for a refund must be at least 25 thousand rubles (per tourist), and the duration of stay in the resting place -at least 4 nights. It's is quite expensive for many Russian families. Such a price is also inadequate for small cities in Russia, which are most visited during city breaks, and where the cost of accommodation is less than the amount required for a refund.
There were cases when the means of accommodation raised the price of services for participation in the program. Many hoteliers and tour operators were not ready to join the program so promptly. Hoteliers did not have sites with the possibility of online payment; some tour operators were unable to form a liquid product and simply offered for sale the hotel room capacity that the tourist could independently book directly from hoteliers.
Furthermore, to comply with the terms of the program, a tourist must have a card of the payment service provider "MIR", register it in the program, and make purchases only through the website https://мирпутешествий.рф (bit.do/mirtour). Payment for the tourist product must be made immediately, in one payment, which also makes difficulties for tourists.
Not all tourists were ready to buy tours in such a short time and go on holiday during the inter-season time. Many holiday centers could not take part in the campaign, as they do not host tourists from October to December. The program has not been joined by the "aggregators", that accumulate about 30% of means of accommodation's sales (hotels) and are a powerful tool for promoting and informing tourists. Travel agents are also not satisfied with the program, as this format makes a tourist more independent in choosing, and also does not provide with agent's commission. Although some tour operators have developed mechanisms for encouraging travel agents who book tours for their tourists as part of the program.
However, more than 70,000 travelers have made use of the services of the representatives of the domestic market during the first stage of the travel cashback program, according to the Federal tourism Agency.
In October, the Russian government extended the program for the second stage, developing its terms and conditions. Now there is no minimum cost of the tour, and the minimum rest period is adjusted from two nights instead of four. The program itself will last almost two months -from October 15 to December 5, and you can book a tour for any date, the main thing is to be back before January 10, 2021.
As a result, the second stage has shown a significant increase in bookings under the program, as well as the expansion of the geography of travel of Russian tourists -in addition to traditional destinations, the Russian North -Murmansk, Vologda and Arkhangelsk regions, as well as Karelia-began, to be in special demand. Therefore, it is impossible to state unequivocally that measures for supporting tourism in Russia do not work, many of them have a positive impact.
However, the measures taken are not enough, especially in the coming years of the difficult and painful recovery of the industry. Therefore, several non-profitmaking organizations insist on additional support measures. Let's consider them in brief.
In Russia, some public and professional organizations suggest for the government and the industry itself considering the ways to implement several support measures for the tourism industry and its early recovery: ▪ Implementation of a special visa policy: the fundamental idea here is the abolition of visas for the citizens of developed countries and the exclusion of the current "principle of mutuality", and for this purpose, a list of countries has been compiled for whose citizens it is advisable to abolish visas unilaterally -for example, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Spain, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, the United States, France, Sweden, etc.). Such a step will allow increasing the tourist flow by simplifying visa formalities for the citizens of "traveling" countries and to attract them to Russia.
▪ Measures for supporting the hotel business: it is proposed to improve the quality of hotel services, increase competition and maximally deregulate the industry, as well as introduce three-year tax holidays for newly opened enterprises of the hotel business with a staff of fewer than 20 people, private entrepreneurs and individuals receiving incomes from short-term rental of residential accommodations, as well as the enterprises of the hotel business and private entrepreneurs carrying out the short-term rental of residential accommodations with a turnover of fewer than 1 million rubles per year -exempt from all taxes, except PIT and insurance premiums. It is also proposed to expand the audience of hoteliers at the expense of motivated citizens, renting or transferring rooms to them for a symbolic price with the obligation to maintain and develop the rooms as an object of the hotel business in return. Such practice can also be applied to the preservation and monetization of material historical and cultural heritage.
▪ Measures for supporting transport infrastructure: it is possible to introduce an "open skies" regime for all regional airports with passenger traffic of fewer than 5 million people a year, and later on for all airports in the country. It is also proposed to ensure transport accessibility of natural tourist attractions.
▪ Consolidation and strengthening of national identity: it is proposed to introduce a moratorium on the demolition of residential constructions built earlier than 1940, irrespective of the presence of the status of architectural heritage object, the establishment of design codes in large inhabited localities, and the minimization of barriers to the improvement of building surrounding grounds by residents and tenants.
▪ Measures for supporting the foodservice sector: it is proposed to immediately activate the "regulatory guillotine" mechanism, which involves the abolition of several laws and regulations that regulate the industry in excess. It is also proposed to duplicate the menu ▪ in restaurants in English and provide the staff with the opportunity to take basic English language courses on a non-repayable basis.
Within five years these measures can help to increase the contribution of the tourism industry to the Russian economy from 3% to 11% of GDP. But there are no exact guarantees and calculations of their effectiveness yet.

MAIN TRENDS AND PROSPECTS OF THE TOURISM INDUSTRY IN RUSSIA AND IN THE WORLD
The analysis of industry trends in recent years (table 2), shows that some destinations and types of tourist activities are repeated in one form or another, and new interests often appear. But the main trend is the individualization of tourism. At the same time, this trend manifested itself in the pre-Covid period and became significantly sharp during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is obvious that in the post-Covid period, mass tourism will not be able to revive in the same volume, giving up the lead to forms and types of individual tourism. This, of course, will lead to a significant increase in the cost of tourist services and their certain elitism. Our study of public opinion using a method of random statistical sampling through a survey of 300 people on the social network Facebook during the period of isolation showed that up to 75% of respondents are pleased with the idea of new upcoming trips, and about 40% note that they began to appreciate more the opportunity to travel.
However, within 12 months after the lifting of restrictions, the respondents plan to make approximately the same number of trips within the country and abroad as during the previous pandemic of the same duration.
At the same time, more than 50% of the study participants note an increased desire to see the world, and about 60% say that they want to catch up the unseized tourist opportunities of 2020 in the coming 2021, and plan to travel even more in the future. However, for more than 80% of respondents, the prospects of restrictions on the ability to travel within their country in 2021 are very frightening, and for 48% -the threat of border closure and the possibility of leaving the country for tourist purposes.
Domestic travel is going to be the main trend in 2020 and the future of 2021 in the Russian tourism industry. The people exhausted of the long-term selfisolation regime started making short weekend trips in June-August 2020 on a mass scale. Under the current situation, Russians prefer a car to a plane -you can use it spontaneously to leave the city alone or in a small company.
Consequently, such tourist places as Suzdal, Yaroslavl, Vladimir and others are going to become relevant shortly which were suggested but delayed for a long time. There is also a boom in city excursions for residents -excursion author's projects have never been in such a demand for their services before.
Travelers prefer more economical options instead of hotels -for example, apartment complexes or apartments where you can cook food without any need to visit cafes or restaurants, and there is also an increasing demand and interest in glamping, the number of which is growing at an exponential rate all over the country.
The Russian travel business is already placing its stake on individual travel and travel in small groups. Travelers will likely move away from using public transport and large tourist buses. It is expected demand for car travel and small bus travels (no more than 15-17 people).
Tourists will seek to stay in small hotels, where it will be possible to distance themselves from a large number of people (although the operating experience of the popular beach destinations in Russia in the summer of 2020 refutes this assumption -many tourist centres were crowded, airports did not observe the mask mode and distance, cafes and restaurants worked in the ordinary course. At the same time, there was no significant increase in the COVID-19 sickness rate during this period.
However, the popularity of foreign outbound tourism will not decrease contrary to many forecasts. It's evidenced by some trends that can already be seen today. On the whole, the summer season of 2020 showed that Russian tourists are ready to rest even with the threat of coronavirus, and will "rush" in any direction as soon as the road and borders are open.
Thus, the island of Zanzibar in Tanzania littleknown previously among the tourists is a good example of this-now there is an unprecedented phenomenon of overbooking on the island thanks to Russian tourists: as of the beginning of December 2020, in terms of tourist flow, Russian tourists in Zanzibar took the 2nd place (16.1% of all tourists on the island), giving way only to the French (17% of tourists on the island).
However, the situation with "closed" destinations for Russians will continue to affect tourism negativelythis situation makes the entire market nervous, and tourists -postpone a possible trip for an indefinite future.
The owners of their real estate in resort areastheir own houses, apartments, time shares -may stand to gain in some way. They can use direct or subsequent regular flights to visit their properties. On a mass scale, the ordinary tourists won't be let go abroad from Russia soon upon the pretext of ensuring quarantine measures. Mandatory testing for coronavirus and talks about introducing the mandatory vaccination for admission to flights, do not increase the attractiveness of tourism. PCR tests are already required to enter many destinations and the most important thing-to return to Russia. The authorities may impose similar requirements for Russian hotels in the most popular destinations, especially if the situation with the coronavirus does not improve.
And ultimately, for almost a year of coronavirus restrictions (one year will be in March 2021) have pretty well drained the financial "reserves" of both potential tourists and travel agencies. This is fraught with further impoverishment of potential clients, as well as gradual "self-liquidating" in the travel market -the mass withdrawal of business from tourism is already in high gear, as evidenced by the mass self-liquidating of Russian tour operators: within 11 months, 229 companies engaged in outbound tourism were removed from the Federal Register of tour operators in Russia, which defines all working tour operators, and participation in which is very expensive. At the end of November 2020, only 437 companies remained in the register of outbound tour operators, whereas 5 years ago this list contained about 2.5 thousand tour operators. In 2021 the situation will only get worse if the same conditions go on.

CONCLUSIONS
Based on the identified problems and emerging trends, it is reasonable to mark the following assumptions about tourism in the "post-Covid" future. Tourism will become more individualized, tourist groups will decrease in number (the trend is for micro-groups).
Tourists often prefer personal transport avoiding personal contact while keeping social distancing. In view of this, there will be a restart of excursion tourism and the role of the tour operator will change, there will be a closer interaction between the travel business and destinations.
It is vital to think that marketing technologies for distance travels will be developed, including those with full immersion by means of augmented reality. In this respect, there would be a growing interest in new locations beyond the top destinations.
Some policy makers envisage that future holiday makers will specify higher requirements on the places of accommodation, transport, display objects, including on observing and ensuring of sanitary and epidemiological standards, disinfection technologies, etc.
In addition, there will be an increase in active leisure and interest in nature: Hiking, trekking, bike tours, glamping, personal ownership of a resting place (timesharing, etc.). Business will have to diversify its activities and services, learn how to adapt to critical situations fast and in the context of rapidly changing demand.
Business must develop new products and optimize existing ones to meet the requirements for rationalizing the use of a vacationer's time, implementing their requests and interests. While analyzing the situation in tourism, "the Guardian" newspaper notes that despite a number of problems that the pandemic has created for the tourism industry, it can lead to positive changes in the behavior of travelers.
Tourism will be recovering slowly and the quality of trips will improve. In particular, there will be more trips in the inter-season time and on unusual tourist routes. Tourists will begin traveling by train and bicycle more often. On the whole, tourism will become more environment-oriented.
Anyway, the travel industry will not be the same as it was before COVID-19. But the industry will certainly adapt to new realities" (Things have..., 2020). It may well be that some players in the tourism markets will be replaced by others with new ideas, creative solutions and non-standard offers. But that remains to be seen how this process will take place, and what changes are expected in the tourism market in the near future.