Tourism development in small cities on the example of Pistoia in Tuscany

The dynamic development of tourism in many regions of the world causes competition boost which, in turn, leads to a variety of changes in tourist offers. Tourism is an alternative for other types of economic activity, this relates to spatial units of diverse area, including cities. The tourist function can become the mechanism of local development for cities and the protection of the cultural and natural heritage. The main goal of the article is to present the tourist potential of a historical city and the possibilities of further development of tourist movement in light of current tendencies of the world tourist market. The paper also includes an attempt to analyze the structure of tourist product of the city of Pistoia basing on its location as a neighbor of such large tourist centers as Florence or Pisa.