The Concept of Cultural Tourism and Its Classification

The purpose of the article is to analyse the existing definitions of the concept of “cultural tourism” and its classification. The research methodology is based on the application of theoretical methods of humanitarian research. The scientific novelty of the study is generally related to the cultural analysis of the existing definitions of “cultural tourism” and its classifications. Conclusions. Attention is drawn to the difficulties in defining the concept of “cultural tourism”, associated with the need for an initial analysis of derivative concepts: “culture” and “tourism”. Despite the widespread understanding of culture as a set of material and spiritual values accumulated by society at a certain stage of its development, as well as activities for their creation, development, preservation and dissemination, in the context of this study of all available definitions of “culture” with which it can be considered as a process of production of values. This gives reasonable grounds to consider tourism as a form of development of cultural products. It emphasises that there is no single common definition of the terms “tourism” and “cultural tourism”, as well as the classification of the latter at the official level and in the scientific community. It is emphasized that the diversity of interpretations of these concepts is due to the inability to unify the formulation of a multifaceted phenomenon, the study of which should take into account not only different contexts depending on the functions performed by tourism / cultural tourism, but also take into account specific industries and areas. It is concluded that the concept of cultural tourism requires an indication of the motivation of tourists as an integral part of cultural tourism. According to the criteria of the goals of the trip, it is proposed to distinguish the types of cultural tourism (historical; religious; event; ecological; ethnocultural; entertainment). It is emphasized that the selection of other classification criteria requires further study and detailed justification, which will reflect the breadth and multifaceted nature of the concept of “cultural tourism”, its essence and scale