Events are an important motivating factor in tourism; they influence the development of areas, their marketing plans and competitiveness. The research is based on the study of experience of event tourism development abroad and in certain regions of the Russian Federation, and reveals a great potential of event tourism. The authors state that the successful development of event tourism depends on the existing system of organization, planning, event management and efficiency of interaction between participants of event tourism. Establishment of bilateral relations between various businesses and interest groups can achieve the goal of strategic planning. For regional authorities, arranging and hosting of events should give an impetus to the development of tourism infrastructure, attracting investors and the opportunity to raise the tourism industry to a new level. There is a need to find and study effective forms of interaction between different market actors in order to increase the attractiveness of tourist destinations, taking into account the specific characteristics and potential of a particular area.