Olga Gabuyeva
Minister of Tourism of the Yaroslavl Region
The Yaroslavl Region has worked out several programs to make weekends interesting for tourists. Olga Gabuyeva, Minister of Tourism of the Yaroslavl Region, told the EcoTourism EXPERT about current and promising opportunities for traveling around the region.
- The Yaroslavl Region is part of the Golden Ring of Russia and represented by several cities. How is this reflected in the tourist flow indicators?
- The tourism sector in the Yaroslavl Region is constantly developing, and over 9 million tourists visited the region last year, a third of them stayed for at least one night. Many tourists come to our region along the Volga River, some of them mixing business with pleasure and take a chance of enjoying the views of nature. There are those who stay at holiday centers and health resorts.
We have developed and are consistently implementing the all-season concept of ‘2 + 1’ and ‘3 + 2’ that are the options for recreation on weekends and holidays. The time from Friday to Monday can be spent in Yaroslavl and the region, moving between key tourism locations by own car or in tours offered by our tour operators and sightseeing tour agencies.
Usually, weekend tours include Yaroslavl, the capital of the Golden Ring, and Rostov the Great, the oldest town of the Golden Ring, as well as the towns of Pereslavl-Zalessky, Uglich, Myshkin with their old buildings and ancient monuments, and Tutayev and Rybinsk.
- Does the tourism infrastructure in the region cope with the increased tourist flow?
- The Yaroslavl Region’s authorities have done a lot of work to attract funds for the development of the tourism sector within the framework of the national project Tourism and Hospitality Industry. Together with the Tourism.RF Corporation, the new modern accommodation facilities are under construction and the plans are to increase their number.
Large-scale tourism projects are expected to be implemented in the Yaroslavl Region by 2025-2030. Modular non-capital accommodation facilities are under construction like the Nikolina Gora mountain ski resort and the Volga Village Resort recreational complex.
In Pereslavl-Zalessky, a tourist and recreational park with an embankment and walking trails around the lake and through historical sites will be created on the Lake Pleshcheyevo shore, and a hotel complex with an extensive entertainment and sports infrastructure facilities will be built.
The Twelve Months project is also under implementation in the village of Lvy in the Rostov Municipal District that is a complex of infrastructure facilities that consists of about 10 guest houses, a pier, and a sports field and a playground.
Interesting hotel projects will be implemented in the Uglich District and in the town of Uglich. The plans are to open a 5-star hotel Domovka and complete the Uglich Passage project consisting of two hotels and an exhibition pavilion in the historical part of the town. We will continue developing the Yaroslavskoye Vzmorye resort on the Rybinsk Water Reservoir where the Koprino hotel complex is located on the shore. An aqua complex with thermal springs will also appear in Yaroslavl.
The village of Vyatskoye, the most beautiful village in Russia, is actively developing. This is a historical and cultural complex with its own gastronomic brand, where several restaurants and hotels, 15 museums, dozens of art objects and monuments are located. A tourism and recreation cluster with a spa hotel, a cinema, new restaurants and museums are expected to be built in the Vyatskoye village. The People-Fish project will be implemented in the Nekrasovsky District on the banks of the Volga River where new hotels, a yacht club, restaurants, spa complexes will be built, and ecological trails will be made.
- What new destinations and tourism locations have appeared recently and what attractions can you recommend to ecotourists?
- In Pereslavl-Zalessky, they can visit the national park located around Lake Pleshcheyevo with equipped eco-trails, for example, the route dubbed Visiting the Gray Heron near the north-eastern part of Lake Pleshcheyevo inhabited by about 50 species of birds. There is a Kukhmar walking trail along the most protected section of the Kukhmar mountain area, tourists can get there only with a guide. For children and their parents, the Fairy Tale Trail is offered that is equipped with wooden sculptures of fairy-tale characters. On the interactive Nature of Feelings eco-trail, accessible to people with disabilities, they can learn to determine the age of trees using a ‘stump analysis’.
In Rybinsk, tourists can enjoy sunbathing on one of the many sandy beaches or go sailing. There are eco-trails in this place, and several options for ecological accommodation in nature are provided, for example, glamping, safari camping, tourist camping, parking for camper vans.
Recently, many interesting original historical and natural excursions have been worked out and offered to tourists that will help them get to know our region better. Detailed information about all options for traveling around the Yaroslavl Region is available on our tourism portal https://visityaroslavia.ru.
Photos courtesy of the Ministry of Tourism of the Yaroslavl Region
EcoTourism Expert wrote about the cities of the Golden Ring of Russia three years ago, in July of covid 2021. Link to the series of materials "The Golden Ring of Russia: Ancient towns expecting miracles to happen" here, here, here
