Tourist and recreational zone (TRZ) - a type of special economic zone created for the development and provision of services in the field of tourism. The goals of creating tourist and recreational zones are: increasing the competitiveness of tourism activities, developing medical and health resorts, developing activities to organize treatment and prevent diseases. In tourist and recreational areas, deposits of mineral waters, medicinal mud and other natural medicinal resources can be developed.
Laws on tourist and recreational zones were adopted on May 19, 2006 by the State Duma of Russia. The creation of tourist and recreational zones helps to ensure a favorable investment climate in Russia, the emergence of a competitive tourism product, and the transfer of the leisure and travel industry to an innovative path of development.
Features of tourist and recreational areas
Tourist and recreational zones differ from other types of special economic zones:
can be created in one or several areas of the territory of municipalities.
at the time of their creation they may contain land, used by citizens and legal entities.
in tourist and recreational areas there may be infrastructure, housing and other objects located in various forms of ownership, including private ones.
land plots may belong to lands of specially protected areas.
For organizations that have the status of a resident tourist and recreational zone, tax benefits are established:
removal of 30% restrictions on the transfer of losses to subsequent tax periods.
the ability to apply a special coefficient in relation to own fixed assets to the basic depreciation rate.
a reduced tax rate of profit tax may be established.
Lecture 2. Analysis of the region’s tourism potential
Questions: 1. Components of tourism potential.
2. Cultural and historical heritage.
3. Types of tourism and prospects for their development
Question 1. Components of tourism potential.
Tourism today is fashionable to consider as one of the forms of manifestation of the general process of development of territories within the framework of certain socio-cultural formations, i.e. one of the expressions of a spatially active reaction. At the same time, a single tourist space is being formed, which is focused specifically on those areas where, due to certain circumstances, there are prerequisites and a need for the development of tourism. One of such areas of international importance is Altai.
The Altai Territory is one of the most attractive regions of Russia for investment in such a non-resource sector of the economy as tourism. Plans for business diversification are increasingly bringing in investors interested in implementing projects with an average payback period.
The region has a whole range of conditions favorable for the development of tourism. The tourism potential of the Altai Territory consists of four main factors:
Natural-climatic (recreational) complex;
Historical and cultural complex;
Networks of accommodation facilities;
Networks of entertainment objects.
The first two factors influence the popularity of the region directly among tourists, the third and fourth - to a greater extent among investors.
The Altai Territory is highly endowed with such important factors for tourism development as natural, recreational, historical and cultural resources. The presence of rich cultural and natural potential allows the region to occupy new positions in the tourism market of Siberia.
The attractiveness of Altai for tourists is determined, first of all, by the fact that nature on a vast territory has been preserved in a natural state, practically unchanged by man. The high degree of scenery and aesthetic appeal of the landscapes, the abundance of natural objects interesting for knowledge, as well as the originality of flora and fauna, allow us to recognize that Altai is one of the few large regions of the planet that is the most promising for organizing international ecological tours.
The Altai Territory has significant recreational resources, which are expressed in the presence of various landscapes, from dry steppe to mountain taiga, mountain tundra, alpine-subalpine.
Thus, the criteria for assessing the tourist and recreational attractiveness of the territories were the presence of the following factors:
1. Natural and climatic conditions (diversity of natural landscapes, presence of water bodies, average air temperature, snow depth, number of sunny days per year, etc.).
2. Availability of display objects, aesthetic and recreational value of the territory, including:
Availability of natural resources: water bodies suitable for rafting, swimming, natural monuments, unique natural complexes, caves, rocks, picturesque landscapes, opportunities for fishing, hunting, etc.;
Availability of historical and cultural resources: historical and architectural monuments, museums, archaeological sites, traditional folk crafts and trades, etc.
3. Quantity and quality of support services, including the availability of mobile communications, provision of accommodation.
4. Transport accessibility, quality of roads.
5. Existing or latent demand for tourism services.
6. The possibility of organizing routes of various categories of complexity and developing various areas of tourism (ecological tourism, ski tourism, water tourism, horse tourism, hiking, weekend tours, etc.).
Today, these factors are fully represented only in the Altai, Smolensk regions and the resort town of Belokurikha.
However, there is a group of districts in the south of the region - Zmeinogorsky, Kurinsky, Krasnoshchekovsky, Charyshsky and Soloneshensky, which, with a relatively low development of transport and tourism infrastructure, are the most attractive in terms of development, primarily due to natural landscapes, historical monuments and mild climate.
In terms of specialization, the strategy for creating a modern tourist and recreational complex of international importance includes the development of four interconnected (integrated) areas (specializations, subclusters) of the Altai tourism cluster:
Altai Territory - federal health resort of Siberia - federal all-Siberian resort, balneological and medical center, created on the basis of modern technologies of health improvement and treatment and local natural resources;
Altai Territory is an all-Russian center of active and sports mountain-landscape tourism and recreation;
Altai Territory is a tourism region of all-Russian and international significance;
Altai Territory is a Siberian gambling and entertainment center - the main Siberian center of recreation and entertainment for all categories of consumers.
The Russian Federation has a high tourism and recreational potential; unique natural and recreational resources, objects of national and world cultural and historical heritage are concentrated on its territory, and important economic, sports and cultural events take place.
At the beginning of the formation of the recreation sector as a separate economic complex, it was customary in scientific circles to use the term “recreational” (recreational activities, recreational resources, etc.) Currently, there is a need to adopt a comprehensive term, combining various aspects of activity within one economic complex
Therefore, in our time, it is advisable to use the term “tourist-recreational”, thereby emphasizing a new approach to the modern needs (requirements) of this type of economic activity, without changing the essential content of the concepts proposed by previous researchers. Tourist and recreational resources include (N.F. Reimers used the term “recreational”) “part of the natural, cultural and historical resources that act as a means of maintaining and restoring the working capacity and health of people, at a given phase of development of society, suitable for use and provision of tourist services " Those resources that are currently used, as well as those that are not available for a number of objective socio-economic reasons, but can be used under certain conditions, form the concept of “tourist and recreational potential” of the territory.
“Recreational potential is one of the indicators of natural resource potential, the degree of the territory’s ability to positively influence the physical, mental and socio-psychological state of a person during recreation.”
Tourist and recreational resources are natural, cultural, historical, socio-economic characteristics of a territory that are stable in space and time, capable of satisfying the needs of people for tourism and recreation.
The tourist and recreational potential of a territory is a set of tourist and recreational resources, their territorial combinations and implementation conditions that contribute to meeting the tourist and recreational needs of people.
Tourist and recreational potential includes two concepts that are inseparable and complementary. Recreational potential as a natural component and tourism potential - cultural and historical heritage - as a man-made component, as well as certain landscape complexes where tourism activities take place, individual natural or man-made tourist attractions - museums, monuments of culture, architecture, archeology, traditions of the population, folk crafts, etc. For example, for sports and health types of tourism, tourist and recreational resources are the only special concept - the natural component acts as a recreational resource and as a tourist one. On the other hand, the infrastructure in places where recreational resources are located (mineral waters, especially comfortable climatic areas) is a kind of tourist resource, or production facilities in the field of tourism and recreation.
Having described and systematized information about a certain category of objects (phenomena), the researcher (subject of research) thereby transfers them from the “potential” category to the “resource” category. But in order for a resource to be presented to tourists (recreationists) as a commodity (tourist product), it is necessary to create certain conditions for its consumption (“consumption” occurs at the time of its actual production). When a tourist buys a tourist ticket (voucher), he only pays for the right to receive a tourist product - excursions, hotel accommodation, transport services, etc. To attract tourist and recreational resources into the production of a tourist product, it is necessary to create the appropriate infrastructure, develop a specific tourist equipment, perform certain methodological work on the technology of developing tours, linking the natural and anthropogenic components into a single whole.
The range of tourist and recreational activities is extremely diverse, causing the need to systematize and classify all its modern types and forms. In our opinion, it is advisable to put an equal sign between the concepts of “tourism” and “tourist and recreational activities” (TRA), since their essential content is almost the same. But the term “tourist and recreational activity” reveals two sides of one phenomenon at once, and in this phrase they complement the information content of this process. In particular, tourism is an element of recreation, a form of recreation, and therefore the improvement of the human body; “recreation” translated from Latin is rest, recovery, restoration of physical and psychological strength.
So, it is advisable to consider tourism and recreational activities in two, not separate from each other, aspects: both as the activities of enterprises related to the tourism industry and act as a means of producing tourism products, and as the activities of a tourist (recreant), aimed at satisfying his need for recreation and health improvement , treatment, knowledge, etc.. in my free time. The concepts of “tourist” and “recreationist,” in our opinion, are equivalent, and their use is determined by the specific situation and is appropriate in each specific case in order to emphasize the peculiarity of human activity. For example, a person is resting in a boarding house, then she should rather be called “recreational”, and her activity should be called recreational. But the category “tourist” also provides for the use of accommodation facilities, catering establishments and, most importantly, a person leaves his permanent residence for a while. On the other hand, people who travel, moving from place to place (organized or independently) are better called tourists. But travel is also a vacation. They also receive certain positive emotions, which means they restore their vital energy and strengthen them, so there is also an element of recreation here.
Keywords: special, free, economic, zones, SEZ, SEZ, types of SEZ
Tourist and recreational zone- the territory in which tourism and recreational activities are carried out - the creation, reconstruction, development of tourism and recreation infrastructure facilities, the development and provision of services in the field of tourism.
Tourist and recreational zones are created to increase the competitiveness of tourism and other activities in the field of tourism, for the development of health resorts and activities for the organization of treatment and prevention of diseases, for the development and use of natural medicinal resources. The creation of tourist and recreational SEZs is of particular importance due to the fact that tourism is the most multiplying service sector in terms of the number of workers employed in it and the creation of additional jobs.
Tourist and recreational special economic zones are created in one or several areas of the territory determined by the Government of the Russian Federation.
The fundamental difference between tourist and recreational SEZs from industrial production and technology innovation in that the emphasis in these zones is not on the production of any goods, but on provision of services to the population. The development and rational use of tourism and medical resources in the SEZ should contribute to economic growth in the region as a whole.
In Russia, SEZs of the tourist and recreational type (SEZ TRT) predominate. TRT SEZs have been identified Decrees of the Government of the Russian Federation of February 3, 2007 No. 67-73 on the basis of decisions of the competition commission for the selection of applications for the allocation of special economic zones of the tourist and recreational type and the expert council under the specified competition commission.
Goals and objectives of creating the SEZ TRT are: the development of tourism, the health resort sector and related industries in Russia’s GDP and thereby ensuring the diversification of the economy: increasing employment of the population: improving the health and quality of life of the population by increasing the availability of tourist and health resort services to citizens of the Russian Federation; preservation of the environment, natural and cultural values.
Special economic zones of the tourist and recreational type are created in one or several areas of the territory determined by the Government of the Russian Federation. SEZ TRT can be located on the territories of several municipalities, and also include the entire territory of any administrative-territorial entity. The placement of housing facilities is allowed in the TRT SEZ.
The functioning of the TRT SEZ is based on mechanism of public-private partnership. At the expense of the budget of the Russian Federation, constituent entities of the Russian Federation and municipalities, tourist and recreational type special economic zones are being created infrastructure facilities. Resident private investors use their own funds to build tourism industry facilities.
At the first stage of creating the TRT SEZ it was planned to carry out work on the development of project documentation and the formation of conditions for the start of the design and construction of infrastructure facilities and tourism industry facilities in tourist and recreational special economic zones.
In the first quarter of 2008, work was completed on developing concepts for the creation and development of the TRT SEZ. In these concepts, areas of tourism that are promising for development, the target positioning (purpose) of each zone are established, the required amount of investment is determined, tourist facilities that need to be built are identified, territory planning is carried out, and an architectural style is selected. Below is a summary of the concepts for the creation and development of the TRT SEZ.
SEZ TRT "Turquoise Katun" in the territory Altai Territory has an area of 3326 hectares. The location of the site is the northern slope of the Altai Mountains. in the area of Red Stone Mountain, on the left bank of the river. Katun. It is planned to develop the following types of tourism in the zone: sports; ecological; medical and recreational: speleotourism; business. The calling card of Turquoise Katun will be extreme sports: mountaineering, skiing, trekking, paragliding, water sports (rafting, kayaks). SEZ TRT "Biryuzovaya Katun" is characterized by a higher degree of infrastructure readiness than in other zones. Currently, there are artificial reservoirs for swimming and fishing, 2 ski slopes, 3 year-round hotel complexes, as well as a bridge across the river. Katun, connecting the Chuysky Trakt highway with the territory of the special economic zone.
SEZ TRT “Gates of Baikal” is in Irkutsk region. It is located on the southwestern coast of Lake Baikal near the mouth of the river. Goloustnaya and borders the Pribaikalsky National Park. The distance to Irkutsk airport is 115 km. The total area of the SEZ territory is 1590 hectares. The tourist and recreational complex is positioned as an all-season, world-class resort to attract various target groups of tourists from Russia, the CIS countries, Europe and Asia. The tourist and recreational potential of the TRT SEZ will allow the development of such types of tourism as business, medical and health, environmental, sports, adventure, water, and cruise.
SEZ TRT “Curonian Spit” in the territory Kaliningrad region, area is 282 hectares. The tourist and recreational potential of the TRT SEZ makes it possible to develop the following types of tourism: ecological; health; cultural and entertainment; business; sightseeing; informative. The special economic zone “Curonian Spit” in the Kaliningrad region will cease to exist. As stated in the relevant government decree dated December 22, 2012, during the five years of work, not a single resident was registered there. The zone was created in 2007 in the Zelenogradsky district of the Kaliningrad region, however, during its entire existence it failed to attract investment, and not a single resident was registered in it. Funding for infrastructure creation has been suspended since March 2009.
SEZ TRT “New Anapa” on the territory of the Krasnodar Territory is located between the Black Sea and two estuaries located on the Blagoveshchensk Spit. The construction site is located 28 km from Anapa airport and 25 km from the nearest railway station. The total area allocated for the creation of the TRT SEZ is 882 hectares. The potential of the TRT SEZ makes it possible to develop comfortable beach and health-improving holidays, as well as business, water and other areas of tourism.
SEZ TRT "Altai Valley" in the territory Republic of Altai located in the Mayminsky district, near the settlements of Souzga and Rybalka on the right bank of the river. Katun. The distance to Gorno-Altaisk Airport is 10 km. The area allocated for the TRT SEZ is 855 hectares. The tourist and recreational potential of the TRT SEZ will allow the development of the following types of tourism: ski tourism; ecological; water; cultural and entertainment; medical and recreational.
SEZ TRT "Baikal Harbor" in the territory Republic of Buryatia is located on five sites - “Turka”, “Sands”, “Bychya Mountain”, “Bezymyannaya Bay”, “Gremyachinsk”, located in close proximity to Lake Baikal on the territory of the municipal formation “Pribaikalsky District”. The total area allocated for the creation of the TRT SEZ is 3283.65 hectares. The tourist and recreational potential of the TRT SEZ will allow the development of: environmental, health-improving, excursion, water, ethnic, automobile (caravanning) tourism.
SEZ TRT "Grand Spa Yutsa" in the territory Stavropol Territory located in the Caucasian Mineralnye Vody region in the Yutsa Mountain area, 10 km from Pyatigorsk and 35 km from Mineralnye Vody airport. The area of the TRT SEZ is 843 hectares. The main goal of the project is to create a modern balneological resort, improve service, create a wide range of entertainment opportunities for vacationers and develop various types of tourism, including: medical and health (balneological), environmental, sports (extreme), event, educational.
Based on these concepts, in 2008, planning projects for the territory of the TRT SEZ were developed and approved in the Altai Territory, in the Altai Republic, in the Republic of Buryatia, in the Krasnodar Territory and Stavropol Territory. Also in 2008, the Supervisory Boards of the TRT SEZ were created.
In the period 2009-2011. It was planned to carry out the main work on the construction of engineering, transport and other infrastructure of the TRT SEZ. However, the process of development of the TRT SEZ has slowed down. To date, land issues have been resolved for each SEZ, in addition to the concepts of the TRT SEZ, urban planning documentation has been developed, and construction of a number of infrastructure facilities has begun. According to experts, the tourist and recreational SEZ “Biryuzovaya Katun” is developing most actively in the Altai Territory. Investments in its development in 2009 amounted to 3.4 billion rubles, and the number of resident companies in it reached six. The total cost of the project to create Turquoise Katun will be over 15.4 billion rubles.
The long-term global trend in the development of SEZs indicates that tax incentives are not the main incentive for the influx of investment. More significant and significant in this regard may be political stability, investment guarantees, quality of infrastructure, workforce qualifications, simplification of administrative procedures, and the prospect of developing the national market.
The reasons hindering the development of the TRT SEZ include: include the following:
1. Insufficient funding. Due to the crisis, the amount of financing for the construction of infrastructure in the TP SEZ has been reduced by almost 2 times. In 2010, 2.2 billion rubles were allocated from the federal budget for the development of the TRT SEZ.
2. A relatively small amount of benefits, compared to other countries, provided to the investor. According to the legislation of the Russian Federation, SEZ residents are provided with the following guarantees and tax benefits: when calculating income tax, apply a reduced tax rate of up to 13.5%: exemption from paying land and property taxes for 5 years.
3. Lack of qualified specialists, including those familiar with environmental requirements and standards.
4. The slowness of the federal authorities in resolving issues of the functioning of the SEZ. SEZ TRT are developing most successfully in regions whose authorities have shown maximum initiative, constantly pushing the center to take more active action. In this sense, one can positively assess the latest trends towards the transfer of additional powers in this area to the constituent entities of the Federation.
5. Poor awareness of investors, especially foreign ones, about the possibilities of domestic TRT SEZs.
Tourism and recreational activities, as part of the non-productive sphere of activity, occupy an increasingly important place in the global economy. This trend extends to many regions of Russia.
Due to the loss of the previously most significant recreational and tourist territories (in Crimea, Transcaucasia, the Baltic states, etc.), the importance of many domestic Russian recreational territories is increasing, at least as a tourist and recreational destination for the majority of local residents, residents of large and major cities Russia. All this allows us to evaluate the recreational and tourism sphere of economic activity in the Bryansk region, based on many factors, as very important and promising.
The Bryansk region is characterized by favorable natural and climatic conditions in the summer season, and taking into account other physical and geographical characteristics, it is classified as a territory that is relatively favorable for the organization of recreation. The geographical location of the region in the west of the European part of Russia, 450 km southwest of Moscow, allows us to classify part of its territory as a peripheral zone of the vast Central European recreational region. At the same time, the northeastern part of the Bryansk region, incl. The territory along the Desna and Bolva rivers was reserved decades ago for the future development of sanatorium treatment, recreation and tourism. Currently, a significant part of the region’s territory is unsuitable for recreational use due to contamination as a result of the Chernobyl accident in 1986.
The territory of the region is characterized by the presence of unique and ecologically valuable natural areas preserved in a little changed form. The large Desna River, a tributary of the Dnieper, flows through the region in the meridional direction, which acts as the main ecological corridor of the Bryansk region. This natural axis includes the largest protected area of federal significance in the region - the Bryansk Forest Nature Reserve, as well as the little-changed territories of the Desna floodplain, which are priority eco-tourist destinations. In the future, the natural heritage of the Bryansk region will become an integral component of the international (creation of a common ecological corridor with Ukraine), as well as an interregional natural system, including protected areas of adjacent regions - the Kaluzhskie Zaseki Nature Reserve, the Oryol Polesie National Park, etc.
The medicinal recreational resources of the Bryansk region are attractive, represented by 7 deposits of various mineral waters, as well as medicinal mud. Resort and health centers of local importance are (not legally approved as resorts): Beloberezhskaya Pustosh (Bryansk region), Zhukovka and the surrounding area, Klintsy and the surrounding area, etc.
The tourist and recreational structure of the region includes 4 tourist and recreational districts (destinations), formed by including municipal districts (Table 4): Bryansk, Trubchevsky, Starodubsky and Novozybkovsky. The centers of tourist and recreational areas are historical cities, in which there are large ensembles and complexes of historical and cultural monuments, the traditional living environment and folk culture are preserved. It is recommended to locate the main tourism and recreation institutions in historical cities, in preserved historical estates.
In addition to tourist and recreational centers, local nodes of tourist activity are identified - existing and promising route support centers. Here are located the objects that are most interesting to visit due to their high historical, cultural or natural and recreational potential.
Recreational areas are primarily intended for recreation. These are corners of wildlife in the city, both natural and artificially created.
Why are recreation areas needed?
Recreational areas of natural origin - lakes, forest areas, river banks. This is what remains of the wild nature, its last islands in the stones of the city. Artificially created recreational areas are all familiar parks and plantings, ponds, gardens and reservoirs. This is nature created by human hands. Places where you can relax, listen to the rustling of leaves and splashing waves, admire the birds, and breathe fresh air. In a word, to touch living nature, which is so scarce in a modern city.
Often such areas are used for sports, usually there are areas specifically designed for active recreation. This is especially true for bodies of water. Equipped beaches are the basis for safe recreation on the water.
But the recreational zone exists not only to provide people with a place to relax. This is precisely why specialized recreation areas differ from spontaneous ones.
In such areas, toilets, first aid stations, and local police stations may be located. There are often kiosks, rental points for various sports equipment, sports equipment and equipped playgrounds for children. In a word, these places are like corners of wild nature, equipped with all the possible benefits of civilization.
Environmental functions of recreational areas
However, these are not the only arguments in favor of creating such territories. The construction of a recreational area is necessary not only because people need a comfortable and safe place to relax. Nature also needs a break from people. The fact is that city dwellers will somehow find a place to relax; they will go to the forest or to an undeveloped river bank. And the trouble is not that it can be dangerous. Adults themselves are able to determine the acceptable level of risk. But almost always, after such vacationers, piles of garbage and bottles are left on the grass, which there is no one to clean up in the forest, because there are no wipers there. And in the worst case, it will all end in a fire that breaks out from an unextinguished fire or a cigarette thrown into dry grass.
It can be said that the city's recreational areas protect wildlife from gross human interference. Those who want to sit on the grass and barbecue will simply go to the park. Yes, they will litter there and, perhaps, will not keep an eye on the fire. But the recreational areas are equipped with safety equipment, and firefighters are nearby and will arrive on the first call. And abandoned bottles and plastic food boxes will be removed by beach or park workers.
Often, the creation of a recreational area on the site of a forest or reservoir being absorbed by a city is the only way to save it from destruction. Otherwise, the lake will be drained and filled in, and the forest will be cut down to make way for development. Preserving areas of wildlife in the city is an extremely important task. High real estate prices arouse exceptional work enthusiasm among developers.
Recreation and tourism areas - what are they?
Those who are not interested in parks and alleys can go to tourist and recreational economic zones. These are legally designated areas intended for tourism and only for it.
The corresponding legislative acts were adopted in 2006. The purpose of creating such natural areas was to increase the competitiveness of the tourism business. It is expected that special economic and legislative conditions will stimulate the development of the tourism business, the creation of new and the reconstruction of old health resorts.
Similar zones can be created in individual areas of municipalities. There may be private houses and various infrastructure facilities of any form of ownership. Areas allocated for zones of this type may be part of specially protected areas. This is precisely why the tourist and recreational zone differs from a regular economic zone.
The state offers companies planning to engage in the tourism business to obtain resident status in the tourist and recreational zone and take advantage of the associated benefits. Residents can use a special coefficient when calculating depreciation on their own fixed assets. Restrictions on the transfer of losses to subsequent tax periods, amounting to 30% for other business entities, have been lifted for residents. In addition, a lenient income tax rate may be established for them for a certain period.
The problem of protecting wildlife when creating tourist and recreational zones
Metallurgical production, development and extraction of any minerals are strictly prohibited on the territory of such tourist and recreational zones. The exception is mineral waters, therapeutic muds and other balneological tourism objects. It is also impossible to process scrap ferrous, non-ferrous metals, and minerals, except, again, for the spill of mineral waters or other use of the balneological resources of the territory. The production and processing of any excisable goods, except motorcycles and cars, is prohibited.
One of the reasons why environmentalists are skeptical about the project is that entrepreneurs are given the right to build tourist facilities in protected areas. It is very likely, environmentalists believe, that this work will be carried out in violation of existing norms and regulations.
Similar experiments took place in Crimea and ended sadly. The construction of facilities planned to be environmentally friendly led to the cutting down of unique relict forests and the destruction of natural coastal formations. With this development of events, it will no longer matter whether the tourist complex continues to function or not, or whether the developer will be punished. After all, the damage has already been done, the damage is irreparable. Such risks must also be taken into account.
That is why environmental organizations are demanding a ban on the construction of tourist complexes in unique protected areas. It is easier to prevent this kind of misfortune than to look for ways to eliminate the consequences. Moreover, they do not exist.
Estimated economic benefit from the project implementation
The creators of this law believe that the development of tourism in Russia is impossible without economic support for entrepreneurs working in this area. According to preliminary calculations, 44.5 billion rubles will be spent on financing such zones by 2026. Representatives of the tourism business are expected to invest more than 270 billion rubles in the creation and development of tourist and recreational zones. Tax revenues from the project should amount to 260 billion rubles. The flow of tourists will more than triple, and the contribution of the tourism business to the country’s GDP will reach 2%. This is not as little as it seems - after all, now state revenues from this area of activity are tending to zero. This is what makes the development of tourism in Russia one of the priority areas of business, requiring government support.
The creation of such zones pursues not only economic goals. The result of such a program should be an improvement in the quality of service at Russian resorts and their improvement. Now many people note that it is more pleasant and profitable to relax on the shores of Turkey and Egypt than at home. Since the tourism business brings considerable income to countries with territories that are attractive in this regard, it is obvious that the situation needs to be changed. All conditions must be made to ensure that vacationers want to spend their money on the territory of Russia, and not outside its borders.
What areas for recreation and tourism are currently being created?
Currently, the recreational zones of Russia are represented by the following list:
- recreational area in the Stavropol Territory;
- in the Irkutsk region - “Gateway of Baikal”;
- in Altai - “Altai Valley” and “Turquoise Katun”;
- zone in the Itum-Kalinsky district of the Chechen Republic.
Previously, this list was two points longer, but recreational zones in the Krasnodar Territory and the Kaliningrad Region were liquidated by government decision. The zone on the Curonian Spit in the Kaliningrad region ceased to exist, since not a single agreement was concluded with residents and there were no businessmen willing to invest in the development of tourism infrastructure.
The tourist and recreational zone in the Krasnodar Territory ceased to exist for the same reason. But it was supposed to be located on the territory of well-known and beloved resorts: Sochi, Gelendzhik, Anapa, Tuapse. Cities that have always been exclusively touristic.
How could it happen that in the territories traditionally supported by tourism there were no businessmen willing to start creating tourism facilities on a preferential basis and under the auspices of the state? Of the entire list of recreational areas, this point seemed the most promising.
It is obvious that the practical implementation of the project to create tourist and recreational zones will turn out to be much more problematic than it seemed at first. And the above calculations are most likely overly optimistic. Since there were no people willing to start the tourism business in Sochi and Tuapse, this means that the projected income from the project needs to be seriously adjusted. And eliminate the factors leading to such a situation.
Time will tell how economically successful other objects will be.
Tourist complex in Stavropol region
The natural and recreational zone located in the Stavropol Territory is called “Caucasian Mineral Waters”. It is located on the territory of Kislovodsk, Zheleznovodsk, Essentuki, Pyatigorsk, the cities of Mineralnye Vody and Lermontov, Predgorny and Mineralovodsky districts. The potential possibilities of the zone are extensive. Beautiful landscapes, mountain air, unique flavor of the Caucasus. The unique health resorts of the Stavropol Territory were famous back in the days of Tsarist Russia, and the mineral water of Essentuki is one of the best mineral waters in the world.
Basic infrastructure elements are located near the recreational area; access to them is not difficult. In this area, it is planned to develop primarily health and balneological tourism; sports, educational and environmental tourism seem promising.
Tourist complexes "Biryuzovaya Katun" and "Altai Valley"
The tourist and recreational zone "Turquoise Katun" is located on the banks of the Katun River. This area is reminiscent of the classic landscapes of northern Europe: mountains, alpine meadows and mixed forests. It is sunny and relatively warm here, the average annual temperature is +5 o. A lot of snow falls in these places, the cover height reaches 600 mm. It is planned to create routes for hiking, water, ski and horse tourism. It will be of interest to fishermen and mushroom pickers, climbers and fans of caving tourism, hunters and lovers of rafting on mountain rivers.
Traditional trades and crafts of the inhabitants of Altai, a large number of archaeological and cultural monuments, and museums of the Altai Territory can also attract tourists to this area.
The Altai Valley recreational zone project should cover the territories of two state reserves and four game reserves, and will also include 5 sites from the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The Nizhne-Uimonsky, Nizhnekatunsky, Ursulsky, and Bie-Telitsky districts seem to be the most attractive for tourism. On the territory of the tourist zone there is such a unique natural object as Lake Manzherokskoe. Mount Sinyukha is located nearby. This is an ideal place to create a mountain resort that meets world standards. At the moment there are no such things in the country. The government of the Altai Republic has repeatedly tried to begin the construction of a tourist complex, but there was always not enough money for this. Perhaps funds will be found within the framework of this project.
One of the significant disadvantages of this territory is the lack of an airport. Getting to the recreation area is very inconvenient. The item “construction of an airport” is included in the project, but it is unlikely to be financed, at least until the benefits from this become obvious. So far, the positive balance of the project is in question.
Tourist complex "Gates of Baikal"
The recreational zone “Gates of Baikal” in Buryatia is supposed to be created next to the lake itself, because it is precisely this that is the goal of tourists coming to the region. This area has everything needed to create a mountain sports and health resort with a balneological focus: mountains, mountain rivers, a warm lake, mineral springs and healing mud.
A large resort facility should include ski resorts, water and mud clinics, trails for ecological and sports tourism. On the shore of Lake Kotokelskoye it is planned to create a water tourism center with a yacht club and an indoor water park.
Ski resort in the Chechen Republic
The recreational zone in the Chechen Republic will be located in the mountains, not far from the city of Grozny. It will be organized as a high-class ski resort. It is planned to build a huge tourist complex. In addition, cable cars, cross-country ski tracks, 19 ski slopes of varying difficulty, an equestrian arena and a stable will be built. Nearby they plan to create an artificial snowmaking system and a reservoir to feed it.