#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. In the creative space of the Norilsk Development Agency (ADN), a seminar of the ethnic culture accelerator of tourist products Ethno-Arctic.RF was held.
As a reminder, the accelerator initiated by the PressPass agency is an open program for the intensive development of products in the field of ethnocultural tourism in the Russian Arctic. Its goal is to promote tourism in the polar regions, promote their sustainable development, preserve the traditions, way of life and culture of the indigenous peoples of the North.
22 teams from eight regions of the Russian Arctic participate in the accelerator. The program consists of ten expert and three mentoring sessions with the involvement of leading tourism professionals.
Norilsk took over the baton of traveling seminars from Murmansk and Salehard. Representatives of the NDA, cultural institutions of Norilsk and Dudinka, family and tribal communities, the Norilsk Tourism Development Center, and tour operators gathered at the expert platform. Experts from Karelia and Chukotka joined the discussion via video conference.
The accelerator participants discussed initiatives in the field of ethno-tourism:
- Norilsk Tourism Development Center’s video and VR tours;
- a unique mobile application for traveling to the world of indigenous peoples, which is being developed by young people from Taimyr. With its help, any tourist will be able to get acquainted with the culture and life of the small ethnic groups of the Russian North, learn the latest news from their lives, choose the right tourist products and even buy souvenirs made by indigenous craftsmen;
- the arrangement of an ethnic camp 40 kilometers from Dudinka, the creation of an ecological trail, the launch of a school of indigenous guides and other projects of the Taimyr College, implemented in partnership with various organizations, including the NDA.
As accelerator experts emphasized, the initiatives implemented on the territory of the Arctic tourist cluster deserve close attention of colleagues from other regions of the country.
“As part of ten expeditions, we’ve traveled almost the entire Arctic and we see that the problems of the regions are very similar, and there are few high-quality solutions. It seems to us that such cases as the creation of an ethnocultural platform on the basis of the college or a school of guides organization with the involvement of representatives of the indigenous peoples of the North should be replicated in other territories. Tourism in general is a new economic meaning for the indigenous population living in the tundra, since it allows creating new jobs, helping to preserve and popularize the culture of indigenous peoples”, said Artur Agafonov, the PressPass deputy general director.
The workshop participants exchanged experiences and identified priority tasks. A new draft law on tourism is currently being approved by the Federal Tourism Agency, which deals, in particular, with business entities.
“At the same time, ethnic entrepreneurship is not mentioned in the draft law. I propose to jointly form proposals and send them to the document developers”, Anastasia Korol, the NDA deputy director for tourism development, addressed the participants of the expert platform. “Another topical issue in the field of ethnic tourism today is the accommodation of guests in the traditional dwellings of indigenous peoples on the territory of ethnic camps. Until chums and mobile houses are classified as collective accommodation facilities, we will not be able to leave tourists in them for a night. I believe that we now have a rare opportunity to submit our proposals to Rostourism on this topic as well”.
The Ethno-Arctic accelerator has been implemented since December 2021 with the support of the Ministry of the Russian Federation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic, Information and Analytical Center of the State Commission for the Development of the Arctic, and the Nornickel company.
Earlier, a travel blogger held a master class for tourism ambassadors in Norilsk, and the Norilsk Development Agency upgraded the skills of the Arctic tourist cluster guides. We also reported that the Hectare in the Arctic proram stimulates the tourism development in the North of Russia.
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Text: Angelica Stepanova, Photo: Denis Kozhevnikov and the Norilsk Development Agency
