“Soft Power” Digital Capabilities in the Tourist Image Construction of a Big City (on the Example of St. Petersburg)

Abstract

The research focuses on a meaningful and structural analysis of the “soft power” digital capabilities in the implementation of the program for creating an attractive image of a big city. The main goals are assessment of the demand for key provisions of the “soft power” concept in the digital activities of the city administration and the tourism business; expert assessment of the inclusion of the soft power principles in branding the territory. The study is implemented in the methodological traditions of the institutional and constructionist approaches. Empirical data was obtained through a meaningful analysis of program documents, management reports, expert interviews with government officials and digital activities. The results of the study are the structuring of indicators of tourist attractiveness of St. Petersburg, demanding the ideology of “soft power”; assessment of the adoption, implementation and digital instruments of soft power provisions among the tourism business community of St. Petersburg.