The article discusses the experience of existence the historical cities as centers of tourism development through the example of Elabuga. The Elabuga is one of the historical cities of Russia. A crucial role in the city’s development as a tour-ism center plays Elabuga state historical-architectural and art museum-reserve. The article is focused on the Elabuga as a medium-size historic city. The subject of study is the work of the museum-reserve, contributing to the preservation and development of the city’s historical character and improving its tourist attractiveness. Tourist attraction of the city is determined primarily by the presence of well-preserved historic city center with neighborhoods of holistic development of the XIX century. Elabuga state historical-architectural and art museum-reserve was found in 1989. Currently it is the object of historical and cultural heritage of federal importance. The museums with their large territories and rich historical, cultural and natural heritage have unique resources for the implementation of major partnership projects. Such projects are aimed not only at attracting a wide range of tourists, but also stimulating interest of the business elite, municipal and regional authorities to the reserve. The most famous example is the revival in 2008 of Elabuga Spasskaya fair. It was held in the city since the second half of the XIX century and was widely known throughout Russia. The process of the revival and the successful development of the fair can be seen as the creation of special tourist events, contributing to the creation of new tourism products.