The tourism industry has been expanding at a very rapid rate during recent years, travel and rest are an integral part of an active, integrated human society. With the development of global networks, geographic borders are opened and erased. The availability of mobility and communication extends the opportunities for learning new cultures and ethnic groups. The positive character of this activity brings to both sides of the process - for a tourist who deepens the horizons of his knowledge and increases the level of cultural erudition, and for the local population, which not only benefits the economy, but also preserves for future generations knowledge about the traditions and culture of its people, supporting the ethnic diversity of the world. The latter factor becomes increasingly relevant as the scale of globalization of humanity is increasingly erase the unique differences between ethnic groups. Ethnic costume, which is a reflection and an integral part of the life of the indigenous population of a region, can be considered an indicator that opens to the tourist all the diversity and features of local traditions. However, today, the costume in the context of tourist attraction is a new and under-researched phenomenon, requiring careful analysis from the scientific community. However, today in the scientific literature questions about the adaptation of ethnic costumes to the needs of the tourism industry, which are due to the specific mechanisms of its use in modern recreational cultural and cognitive processes are not disclosed. This fact determines the relevance of this study. Objectives. The purpose of the study is to identify the functions of the ethnic suit and the mechanisms of its use as a means of achieving tourist attraction (in particular in ethno-tourism). Methods. The research is based on the systematic approach to ethno costume as a means of tourist attraction, analysis of reportage photographs from ethno-festivals, their generalization and structuring of mechanisms for using a costume in tourism activities. Results. In accordance with the generally accepted interpretation of the term "tourist attraction" the task was to achieve the goal before this research of finding out the place costume in the system of entertainment and activities and its role in shaping a positive impression. An analysis of the photos from the national ethno-festivals of recent years gives an opportunity to visually realize: firstly, ethnic costumes or costumes with ethnic motifs are a means of reincarnation of all active participants of the action; and secondly, due to the costume, the atmosphere of the event is created, its unique colour. Based on the analysis of the activities that are the basic components of ethno festivals in tourism activities, the following mechanisms for using the costumes in the specified recreation system can be distinguished, namely: use of an ethnic costume for the reincarnation of participants in ethnic activities (both tourists and locals and tourists, guides, masters, actors), acostume as an exhibit in an ethnographic museum, a costume or its elements as souvenir products, as well as a result of the process of cognition of folk crafts (for example, the themes some master class, etc.). Each of these mechanisms for the use of national costumes in tourism has certain limitations and specifics. The first direction allows a certain author's interpretation and rethinking of folk traditions in a costume, while for the second such an approach is unacceptable, since they perform different functions. The use of a national costume or its elements as a souvenir product allows you to reach the following tourist attractions: Firstly, for a tourist-buyer, it is a material sign, a reference to the places visited or events that it takes with them, and which represents the owner in the eyes of others, about his ties, his status, his cultural development, and his taste. And also, such a souvenir becomes the object of communication, when the owner tells other people about the circumstances of the purchase of a souvenir. Secondly, for a manufacturer's and vendor's souvenir is a product that brings material benefits, and a sign that advertises. In the context of tourism activity, it advertises the region, its cultural heritage, the identity of the ethnic group, etc. Distributed on ethno-festivals to create elements of an ethnic costume during the master class folk crafts, where the guest is invited to make an element of a small size costume that can be put together in memory. Or try to master the technology of folk crafts, and buy a finished product made for it. From the point of view of fine art studies and design, the following categories of ethno-costume functions can be singled out in tourism: artistic and aesthetic (broadcast of the aesthetic ideals of the ethnic group, the inclusion of participants in the ethno-festival in the cultural context of the event, creation of the artistic image of the participants of the event); cultural and cognitive (presentation and identification of cultural features of the region, attraction of attention to the traditions of decorative and applied arts, knowledge of the traditional way of life of the ethnic group through the specifics of the ethnic costume); emotional and recreational (creation of mood and atmosphere of the event, immersion of a tourist into another reality, motivation for a repeated visit, formation of a memorable sign about an event or region); branding (creating an advertising brand or sign, increasing the status of a region or event, assessing the audience of the activity's activity). Conclusions. Considering the ethnic costume in the context of his place in tourism, it can be concluded that he performs a number of useful functions, which until now are not sufficiently covered in the scientific literature, and therefore the role of costume in the processes of achieving tourist attraction underestimated. The costume plays a significant role in shaping the mood and atmosphere of the ethno festival. In general, there are four basis mechanisms for the use of costume in these events: In general, there are four basis mechanisms for using the suit in the indicated measures: using an ethnic costume for the reincarnation of participants in ethnic activities, a costume as an exhibit in an ethnographic museum, a costume or its elements as souvenir products, as well as a result of the process of cognition of folk crafts. These algorithms determine the specificity of functions ethnic costume in the context of its use in the tourism industry. The global categories of these functions can be formulated as artistic-aesthetic, cultural-cognitive, emotional and recreational, and branding.