The article examines the impact of the modern tourism sphere on social mobility in general and, in particular, on professional and academic mobility. The purpose of the article is to construct a descriptive characteristic of the formation of academic mobility (at the regional and global levels) in the context of the development of the modern tourism sphere, realized through the combination of educational and tourism spheres, and where communicativeness and foreign language competence become important feathers of the modern competent young specialist in the tourism sphere. Research methods. During the research, general scientific and empirical techniques based on a systemic approach were applied. General methods of generalization and comparison were also used in the work process. Results. As the result of the conducted analysis, the interdependence of the development of educational and tourism spheres has been defined in the conditions of professional and academic mobility, when the influence of «knowledge diplomacy» and cultural exchange between all subjects of academic mobility occur. The author of the article states that the tourism sphere in the conditions of globalization, openness of countries, unification, and standardization was able to create a global tourist space, which includes more than 150 countries of the world. Conclusions. Today, long distance moving/traveling has become common (opening the new opportunities for social, professional, and educational mobility), this has been used during the creation and further functioning of global and/or regional educational centers, where the training process creates conditions for acquiring a high level of linguistic (non-native) competence, and the ability to work in a multicultural, multinational team. At the same time, there is a cultural exchange between subjects of the educational process; the acquired knowledge and experience remain and influence the further behavior of a future political and military figure in one’s country (the new elite) who studied abroad. Also, studying in such centers transforms the moral and psychological state along with the social communication of students, teachers, scientists, and young professionals. In addition, staying and getting an education in the specified centers contributes to the formation of a new global elite, which becomes cosmopolitan and, upon returning home, perceives the surrounding world in a different way, and builds relations with neighboring countries. That is, there is a practical implementation of the concept of «educational diplomacy», which further affects traditional diplomacy between countries that are part of the relevant educational space, and this, in turn, makes it possible to form a new agenda for solving problems through joint efforts, as well as work on joint projects. At the same time, the modern global tourism sphere is constantly expanding the geography for new education, working under the condition of high communicative competence of the student of education, a young specialist, and knowledge of foreign languages at a level not lower than B2

: new society, moral and psychological state, global labor market, regional centers of education, language and communicative competence, the concept of «educational diplomacy»