Taras Yaskevich
Head of the Krasnoyarsk Territory Tourism Agency
- Starting this year, the implementation of the recently adopted State Tourism Development Program until 2030 will start in the region. What are the tasks set by this program?
- The State Tourism Development Program is a comprehensive document covering the entire region, including the city of Krasnoyarsk that will celebrate its 400th anniversary in 2028, as well as most of the ‘tourism anchors’ of the region like Divnogorsk, Shumikha, the Krasnoyarsk Sea (water-storage reservoir for the Krasnoyarsk Hydropower Station), southern areas of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, and other attractions. Many of these places are not widely known yet and are less promoted, but they are very interesting.
According to the Program, 23 bn rubles are expected to be allocated for the development of the tourism industry, with more than 10 bn rubles from the Krasnoyarsk Territory’s budget, and about 13 bn more are expected to be received as investments. To do this, it is necessary to provide the conditions for the business development in the tourism sector that enable efficient work, create infrastructure facilities for health improvement and recreation, build new resorts, hotels, cafes and restaurants, spa centers, amusement parks, and create new tourism destinations.
The plans are to update the existing hospitality infrastructure facilities that require renovation, and build new ones. We set ourselves the task of building at least 3 thousand rooms and certified accommodation facilities within five years, so that all tourists arriving in the region could enjoy quality service, taking into account that the number of tourists is constantly growing.
Serious business support measures are expected as part of this work. Among other things, they include a subsidy for connection to the energy infrastructure facilities and water supply systems - this subsidy will be available throughout the region. Subsidies will also be paid to legal entities and individual entrepreneurs for the creation of temporary modular accommodation facilities - campings and glampings that can be built in specially protected natural areas; as well as for the implementation of public initiatives and tourism projects. Our plans are also to subsidize socially oriented NGOs engaged in the development of inclusive tourism, and to regional tour operators for the implementation of their school tourism programs.
Personnel training is among the most important tasks. Every year, at least 500 workers from the tourism sector go through training and refresher courses and complete advanced professional training as part of the educational programs implemented by the regional Tourist Information Center. The new Program will help in intensifying this work. The State Program are also aimed at achieving the indicators set in the national project Tourism and Hospitality Industry.
- Which regional tourism destinations will receive the most support?
- The number of such regional tourism destinations is quite great. These are the areas surrounding the Krasnoyarsk Sea, including the area from the Krasnoyarsk to the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power stations, the south of the region, including the Shushensky District, Ermakovsky District, the Ergaki Natural Park with its beautiful lakes, rivers, rocks, and taiga forests. All these amazing places attract many enthusiasts of hiking and horse-riding tourism, rafting, and also fishermen, mountain climbers, and skiers.
Naturally, cruise tourism along the Yenisei River is set to develop, as well as the infrastructure facilities on the Yenisei banks that are required for tourists. Last year, we implemented an innovative project using an eco-cruiser, built charging stations, and landscaped the embankment area in Krasnoyarsk.
We will continue creating opportunities for car-travelers throughout the Krasnoyarsk Territory. In Russia, there are many good examples of roadside services with accommodation facilities and auto repair shops. We study the best world practices and are going to use them in the Krasnoyarsk Territory.
We will implement programs aimed at developing the tourism in the Arctic and allocate additional funds and opportunities for these purposes. Our Krasnoyarsk travel operators work out and sell tours to the Arctic now, which are extremely popular with the travelers.
For example, a large-scale joint project on Lake Lama is under implementation by the government of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the Norilsk Nickel and Vasta Discovery companies to create about 600 accommodation facilities and the required energy, transport and other infrastructure facilities. Some facilities are already available for comfortable accommodation of tourists coming to admire the Putorana Plateau, the northernmost and one of the oldest plateaus of volcanic origin in the world, where the reserve is located that is a UNESCO World Natural and Cultural Heritage Site. By the way, the largest number of waterfalls in Russia, including the Talnikovy Waterfall, the highest one in Eurasia, is in this reserve.
The organizing of flights to the North Pole is under consideration. There is now only one place in Russia from where trips to the North Pole are organized - this is the village of Khatanga in the Taimyr peninsula. From Khatanga, travelers can also go to the northernmost point of Eurasia. Soon, another interesting attraction will appear near the village of Popigai that is not far from Khatanga. 36 million years ago, a meteorite fell in these places, and the resulting crater is one of the largest ones in the world and the largest deposit of impact diamonds. This area is included in the UNESCO Geological Heritage list. We are already working on creating a special tourism product for those who want to visit this crater.
- I can’t help asking about new projects in ecotourism, ethnotourism, and other tourism segments that are equally popular now, for example, the projects in gastrotourism.
- In our region, there are 2 national parks, the Krasnoyarsk Pillars and the Shushensky Bor (Forest). These are definitely stunning tourism anchors. The State Tourism Development Program provides for grants to national parks, which is expected to help in creating the tourism infrastructure facilities aimed at developing ecotourism.
The Krasnoyarsk Pillars National Park located not far from Krasnoyarsk became the fourth most visited park in the country last year. This is not surprising, as there are amazing about one hundred 100-meter-high cliffs of bizarre shapes rising in the taiga forest. The Takmak Rock is clearly seen from the city and is one of the landmarks of the capital of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Together with the Krasnoyarsk city government and the Krasnoyarsk Pillars National Park team, the eastern entrance to the reserve was landscaped in 2022.
Next to the Krasnoyarsk Pillars National Park, there are the All-Season Sports and Recreation Park and the Bobrovy Log (Beaver Ravine) Ski Resort, ten of its slopes are certified to meet the international standards. The Tatyshev Island on the Yenisei River is also among the attractions in Krasnoyarsk, as well as the Chyornaya Sopka (Black Mount), Torgashinsky Ridge, Nikolaevskaya Sopka (Mount), and the Torgashinskaya and the Geneva Caves located near the city. New ecoparks are set up and new trails are regularly made. To date, more than 150 km of routes and trails around the city have been made for traveling without guides, and numerous excursions to both natural and architectural attractions of Krasnoyarsk are offered. Visiting the regional attractions goes well with gastrotourism, and more restaurants are set up so that travelers could taste local meat and fish delicacies and enjoy the local cuisine.
For those who want to visit an authentic Siberian village, the best place is the village of Ovsyanka near Divnogorsk. Travelers can visit a house-museum of famous Siberian writer V. P. Astafiev, his centenary was celebrated on May 1, 2024. By this date, a new tourist spot was established - the Astafiev National Center, and new accommodation facilities, a new pier and a railway platform were built.
I can also recommend the enthusiasts of ecotourism to visit the ‘land of blue lakes’, the Sharypovsky District. There are 273 lakes in this district, a third of which have a water-surface lake area of more than a hectare, and the water of some lakes has healing properties.
Photos courtesy of the Krasnoyarsk Territory Tourism Agency
