It is discussed in the article the prospects for the formation and development of railway tourism in Russia with an emphasis on the Azov region, including integrated historical territories. The aim of the study is to develop recommendations for the formation of an effective railway tourism management strategy that takes into account regional specifics, socio-economic factors and world experience. Within the framework of this goal, the tasks of identifying the potential of railway tourism in the country, analyzing the current directions and world practices, as well as justifying the directions for the implementation of tourist routes based on railway cruises are being solved. The results of the study show that railway tourism has significant unrealized potential due to the long network of railways, as well as natural and cultural diversity of the country. Of particular interest is the Azov coast, which, with the development of appropriate infrastructure, can become a new tourist cluster, alternative to the Black Sea. The article offers options for railway cruises, thematic routes and weekend trains focused on cultural, event, gastronomic and family holidays, including, for example, cruises around the South of Russia, ethnographic and historical trips, railway routs around the Azov Sea and express trains to the sea on weekends. It was considered the best foreign practices – from luxury cruise trains to tourist «pass» systems – and the possibility of their implementation under Russian conditions; it was carried out a SWOT analysis of the development of railway tourism in Russia (with an emphasis on Azovye). The practical significance of the study lies in the possibility of using the developed recommendations in the process of formation of the strategies for the development of transport and tourism infrastructure on the federal and regional levels, the design of new tourism products, as well as for educational and research purposes. In the article it is substantiated that, together with the state program to support domestic tourism, railways are becoming an integral element of the national tourism infrastructure. Against the background of growing interest in travel within the country, as well as the saturation of the Black Sea direction, Azov, subject to the competent integration of railway routes, event tourism and health programs, may become a new tourist attraction of Russia.
