Tourist Center

in the USSR, a station that organizes services for tourists and excursionists—namely, accommodations, meals, and social amenities—and that carries out the provisions set forth in the plans for tour itineraries. Tourist center branch offices, as well as shelters, cabins, and other facilities, are set up along tourist routes. Tourist centers provide information and advice about trips and excursions and publicize organized tours. In 1975 there were close to 1,000 tourist centers in operation, including approximately 600 (with a more than 200,000-place capacity) operated by the trade unions. The greatest concentrations of tourist centers are in the most popular tourist areas, such as the Caucasus, the Crimea, and the Carpathians.