The article deals with the problem of information and analytical support for making management decisions within the assortment policy of the tour operator. The alternative approaches to the formation of profit indicators as the criteria for making management decisions within the assortment policy of the tour operator are analyzed. The danger of using such indicators as operating or gross profit as a target criterion of the tour operator’s assortment policy is substantiated. The article proves the advantages of using an alternative target criterion in the process of formation of the sales program of the tour operator in the form of a contribution margin indicator, which is formed on a systematic basis on the principles of direct costing. It suggests the methodical approach to determining the marginal cost of a tourist product based on the cost function of E. Heinen, which is based on the dependence of variable conversion costs on the number of repetitions of the business function for the period. The contribution margin indicator formed within the system of «simple direct costing» is emphasized to be a suitable criterion for forming only the operative sales program of the tour operator (for a short period of up to 1 year), as it does not take into account possible direct fixed costs, which are relevant when making strategic management decisions within the assortment policy of the tour operator. The article proves that within the framework of the strategic analysis of the sales program of the tour operator it is expedient to use the approach to the formation of the financial result that is based on the concept of complicated direct costing, which provides the appropriate decomposition of the fixed costs. The concept of multilevel contribution margin accounting system by K. Agthe was adapted for the needs of the tour operating industry, taking into account the specifics of hierarchical structuring of the elements of the tour operator’s sales program: «product – group of products – sales program». 

tourist product, assortment policy, direct costing, variable and fixed costs, contribution margin