Uskova Anna Yu.

Problem relevance. Ski tourism is developing dynamically all over the world today. At the same time, despite the significant number of ski resorts and active state support, Russia is significantly inferior to the leading countries in terms of the largest tourist flow. However, when defining tasks for the development of ski tourism, official documents still deal exclusively with the creation of ski infrastructure, which determines the relevance of finding factors for the growth of the attractiveness of ski resorts.
Research purpose. Analysis of the role of the creative economy as a driver of the intensification of the ski resorts development exemplified by two cases of the Chelyabinsk and Sverdlovsk regions.
Materials and methods. To achieve the research goal, economic and statistical methods, case method and expert assessment were used. To assess the impact of the creative economy on the development of ski resorts, we used indicators related to the characteristics of the activities of collective accommodation facilities, as well as indicators of the activities of organizations directly involved in the maintenance of ski resorts. Data from Rosstat, official Internet portals of cities, resorts, news feeds, portals with reviews were used as information sources.
Results and discussion. Despite the similar natural and recreational potential, the ski resort located in Miass was revealed to be developing more dynamically than the resort in Nizhny Tagil. The key factor that determined this difference was event tourism. Based on the proposed criteria, the events organized by the analyzed resorts are classified by the author. Creative tourist products are identified. The assessment of the impact of events and creative product on the tourist flow increase is analyzed.
Conclusions. The conclusion is made that the formation of a creative environment of ski resorts increases their attractiveness for tourists, promotes transformation into year-round resorts. Dynamically developing resorts are beginning to have a positive impact on the development of nearby cities..