The article presents the main theoretical and methodological aspects of project management in the service sector, including projects in tourism. It specifies that the object of control is tourism products. In this regard, the paper presents main properties of tourism products as control objects at the stage of their design. Until recently in Russia the concept of «project» was used mainly in the technical field, implying a collection of documents for a specific object. Later, project management became the economic concept, including different industrial and commercial activities. Afterwards, this resulted into the need to manage projects in the service sector and tourism. The authors offer a detailed and more accurate definition of «project». The paper shows the relationship between the project lifecycle and tourism product as a commodity. The tourism product as a commodity has its own life cycle, the duration and structure of which is determined by the market, i. e. the demand of consumers. The specified life cycle is influenced by other factors: fashion, solvency of customers, advertising, international situation etc. Besides, the article provides necessary types of software for project management in tourism.