Problem of Mineralogical Tourism Development in the Urals

The subject of mineralogical tourism development is particularly relevant for the Urals region whose rich natural resources make it possible to create an attractive tourism product. Mineralogical tourism in the Sverdlovsk Oblast is developing within the car tourism cluster, uniting locations of environmental, active and cultural & educational tourism. The goal of this research is studying the process of developing mineralogical tourism in the Sverdlovsk Oblast and the Urals as a whole. The paper focuses on analyzing the process of regional program implementation. The research applies comparative analysis and content analysis of legislation and regulatory documents of the Russian Federation. Problems of cluster approach implementation in the mineralogical tourism are analyzed; the experience of developing the regional tourism cluster is studied. Mineralogical tourism is not properly developing in the Urals due to the effective legislative restrictions. Private initiative on creating attractive mineralogical tours and parks is hindered by a ban on the right for independent search for precious minerals. Programs of developing domestic and inbound tourism provide for creation of the required infrastructure (communications, service) in the region but do not develop the actual places of interest for mineralogical tours due to restrictions on their effective application. Yekaterinburg is the federal center of the Ural region aspiring to host mega-events (EXPO 2025, etc.); it needs to present and use region’s recreational resources to the full extent in the open investment format.