2022 Issue №4

Currently, ecological management systems are an important prerequisite for successful functioning and competitiveness of accommodation facilities. The article discusses the best practices of hotel chains which consider ecological changes introduced into the technological processes of hotel enterprises, as well as the practices of eco-certification. The authors high­light some benefits, including economic ones, from the introduction of waste reduction and recycling programs in hotels. Green activities in the post-coronavirus period, due to growing demand for more environmentally friendly services, is seen as the one of primary importance. The article shares the analytical results of the Russian experience in hotel resource saving management. Waste disposal programs should be implemented in a comprehensive manner though environmental initiatives of hotel enterprises can be challenged by the absence of pro­cessing enterprises in the regions. It is concluded that green trends of accommodation facili­ties in the Russian and Kaliningrad hospitality sectors are not dynamic enough, which re­quires further enhancement of the regulatory and legal framework in the hospitality industry, including the introduction of eco-technologies.

Given the issue of balanced socio-economic development of the entire territory of the Ka­liningrad region, an important task is to improve the quality of life in small towns in the re­gion, as they serve as supporting elements for the regional settlement frame. Attracting feder­al and extrabudgetary funds could be seen as an effective tool in the context of a local budget deficit. To date, improving the quality of urban spaces has been possible due to participation in the all-Russian competition for the best projects for creating a comfortable urban environ­ment, which has been held since 2018. Having accumulated competencies in working on com­petitive project applications, and participating in numerous cross-border cooperation pro­grams, Kaliningrad group actively and very effectively join in this competition, which has already changed the quality of the urban environment. Many small towns of the Kaliningrad region are on the list of federal leaders among the places with the most comfortable urban en­vironment. This circumstance directly improves the possibilities of such cities in attracting investors, maintaining high-quality labor resources and the possibility of expanding their own regional socio-economic specialization.

Being in close proximity to the local community and its needs, a modern rural library in the Russian space is designed to be not only a center for users to access information, but also a place of education, cultural and intellectual activities, adaptation of residents to rapidly changing political, socio-economic, and psychological conditions. The rural library should act as an institution of socialization through developing a system of traditional values and pre­serving local culture, positioning itself as an open platform and involving residents in an active social and business life. In the article, the author considers the socio-economic develop­ment of the Slavsk municipal district based on the array of statistical and analytical data of the Slavsk library network, which is a valuable information resource. It is concluded that the library in rural areas is actively developing the principles of communication, education, me­morialization, and information that are familiar to us, as well as newer ones — consolidation, education, adaptation, and the acquisition of integrity by the community.

The tourism industry of the Kaliningrad region is one of the most dynamically develop­ing components of the regional economy. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the region's tourist volume was formed mainly due to external tourist flows. With the onset of the pandemic, there was a fear of an increase in the crisis situation in the industry, caused by a sharp de­crease in the number of tourists visiting the region from other regions of Russia. The main purpose of the study was to analyze the dynamics of domestic tourism in the Kaliningrad region for the period from June to August 2020. It was found that despite the restrictions that arose during the COVID-19 pandemic, the domestic tourist flow has almost completely re­placed the external tourism. The main conclusion of the work is the unpreparedness of indi­vidual elements of the tourist infrastructure for a sharply increased flow of tourists. This, in turn, entails an increase in the anthropogenic load on natural ecosystems, which was shown by the example of the Curonian Spit National Park.

Rural territories of the Kaliningrad Region are affected by polarization processes, which can characterize all regions of Russia. But at the same time, due to the small size of the region, they have their own features. In particular, they have a higher level of transport connectivity and a more developed infrastructure, compared with an average rural territory of Russia. The purpose of this article is to assess the degree of influence of agricultural development on the rural settlement process (the case of the southeastern part of the Kaliningrad region). The study examines the main economic and ekistical indicators of territory development including the indicators of the share of the rural population in the total regional population and indi­vidual districts and the indicators of the increase/decrease in the rural population. The author differentiates between the municipalities of the region according to specific weight of the rural population. In conclusion, the article defines the polarization processes occurring on the whole territory of the region and its south-eastern part and affecting the dynamics of the rural popu­lation settlement in the studied micro district.