Mobile tourist guide as a current tool for promotion in tourism

Changes in the global tourism market affect the creation of new ways of communication with consumers in this industry. Considering that ten years ago the main innovation in the industry was the transition from offline to online sales, today the trend in the sphere to attract new customers has become the use of mobile devices. This round of business development gives organizations new ways to achieve increased appreciation from their audiences. There are now many different solutions that support travelers before, during and after their trip. The leading role in these solutions is occupied by mobile applications. The mobile phone is an integral part of modern life. However, most of these decisions focus on either recommending tourist attractions or providing some tourist services. The purpose of this article is to conduct a study of mobile tourist guides to show their relevance and effectiveness in order to promote tourism services and territories. This article highlights the approach to the development of mobile tourist applications, in particular a mobile tourist guide. The article shows the experience of using mobile guides in various areas of tourism, identifies the main catalysts and barriers to growth in demand for the mobile guides market in Russia. Based on the study, a set of recommendations is proposed that is relevant for the design of mobile tourist applications.