Cultural heritage and event tourism as a driver of a large historical town development (on the example of Avignon, southeastern France)

The authors investigate development resources and mechanisms for managing cultural tourism in Avignon, a large historical city (200 thousand inhabitants) located in southeastern France in Provence. The main attractions of the historical center are described (in the UNESCO World Heritage List), as well as famous theater festivals and other events, that form a very powerful tourist flow to this city on the Ron – over 3 million a year. A well-developed system of internal tourist arrangement has been studied, this system allows to use the Old City territory rationally without damaging valuable architectural objects. The surroundings of Avignon are briefly described – a picturesque cultural landscape, saturated with interesting historical and natural objects. Statistics characterizing the volume, composition and seasonality of tourist flow to Avignon is given.