The main content of the study is the analysis of the interpretation of the term “natural and recreational potential” in its modern understanding, given the increased role of the tourism industry in preserving and building up human potential in the post-pandemic period. The study of this problem against the background of the new Tourism and the Hospitality Industry National Project currently being developed is relevant, since it affects the key component of the natural resource base for the development of the national economy, reveals the strategic prospects for ensuring sustainable socio-economic development of the regions of the country with recreational and tourist specialization. The authors conclude that the natural recreational potential is not only the totality of the natural recreational resources of the territory in their quantitative and qualitative representation, but also the prevailing conditions for their use (subjective and objective), latent capacities that can limit or activate the development of tourist activities in the regions. The hierarchical structure of the natural and recreational potential of the region is presented, which includes, in addition to natural recreational resources, a group of factors that affect the efficiency of their use. The paper determines that access to the technological aspects of tourism industry management, using digitalization in the Big Data mode, is a key factor in ensuring the rational and effective use of natural and recreational potential in the creation of regional tourism products, to promote sustainable socio-economic development regions of Russia. In the course of the research, along with general scientific methods, systemic and structural-functional approaches, comparative and retrospective methods of analysis were used.