This article presents the results of the analysis of preferences and motivations of tourists from the main existing and prospective tourist arrivals in Russia, which was conducted by the method of content analysis based on publications of the UNWTO, the World Bank, Eurostat, the European Union, the Federal State Statistics Service, the national tourism administrations, international tourism conferences, scientific and practical work. In the process of the study identified were two groups of research texts: a group of texts about the preferences and motivations of tourists from Europe and America, and a group of texts about the preferences and motivations of tourists from Asia. Results are also presented by geographical areas "Europe and America" and "Asian countries." The study was conducted with the aim of optimizing the preparation of proposals for the formation of the federal policy of promoting Russian tourist product. As a component of the result the author suggest a common approach to marketing efforts to promote Russian tourist product in the European markets and the markets of Asia and the Pacific Region. The approach is to identify priority types of tourism for potential consumers of Russian tourist product, to construct the ratings of distribution policy priorities in the allocation of key expectations from the stay in Russia for the purpose of tourism, to plan route networks and features of the transport component, as well as the to urgently reduce visa formalities for priority markets.