Sunny Ossetia instead of Turkey: North Caucasian resorts claim their readiness to host tourists
However, despite the declared growth of the number of tourists, experts doubt that Caucasian regions are able to become a real alternative
Due to the current economic and political problems, domestic tourism in Russia is going viral. North Caucasus that is preparing to welcome a record number of tourists this year is among the Russian regions that became popular among Russian citizens. The federal district is expecting to host 2m tourists. However, the experts, who were asked questions by Realnoe Vremya, are sure these numbers are far from the reality. At the same time our interlocutors note our tourists won't be able to have a rest in North Caucasus like, for example, in Turkey or Egypt because of the 'national specifics' and a bad infrastructure.
'People changed their preferences'
This year the North Caucasian resorts will host a record number of tourists – 2m people. Regions of the North Caucasian Federal District state this number is going to be 5m in 2 years. Izvestiya informs it citing tourist departments of the North Caucasian republics.
According to the statistics given by the district, the tourist flow in the first quarter 2016 already was almost 200,000 people in the Kabardino-Balkar Republic. This year the number of tourists who visited the republic has almost reached 500,000 people, while in North Ossetia the flow exceeded 150,000 people in 2016. Very tourist functionaries state these numbers are a result of the ban on the flights to Egypt and Turkey.
Despite the given information, the experts of Realnoe Vremya are very sceptical about such a burst of the tourist flow to North Caucasus. They say about a general growth of domestic tourism. According to the director general of Tourist and Information Centre of Kazan Natalia Abramovich, the thing is that the infrastructure of North Caucasus is not quite ready to host a big tourist flow now.
'Domestic tourist is winning popularity in the whole country now – people changed their preferences. We can say the same thing about Kaliningrad, Samara, Kazan. In Kaliningrad, hotels are full. I can state, according to the information given by my colleagues, there is an 'explosion' of attendance. But speaking about an 'explosion' in North Caucasus…' Abramovich doubted.
Experts claim the economic and political situation in the world is a reason for the tourist flow growth. To be more precisely, European health resorts that were popular among Russian tourists have become expensive. The number of the people who are not allowed to travel abroad is also growing.
'Nostalgic' trips
At the same time the experts note a rising popularity of so-called 'nostalgic' trips to former Soviet republics, especially in South Caucasus. Georgia has become the most popular destination here. In 2016, people are especially interested in Azerbaijan.
'There is a direct flight for a reasonable price. It is not getting trendy but interesting for people. People already know what they can expect from foreign countries. But as for the countries they visited 20 years ago last time (of have never visited)… People go to Georgia and Azerbaijan mainly looking for a colour: national cuisine, gastronomic programmes,' the director general of Companion SP Sergey Pasechnik told.
Speaking about North Caucasus, such traditional resorts like Yessentuki or Mineral Waters are always popular among tourists in summer. People go to receive treatment, not high-quality service. Ski resorts are also popular among tourists in winter.
Our 'reckless people' will be afraid of a trip to North Caucasus than Turkey
As the experts think, Caucasus is not so popular: memories of the Chechen War, national specifics of the regions and stereotypes of hot Caucasian guys have an impact.
'National specifics towards Russian tourists has been always observed in North Caucasus. Our tourists need to know them and be cautious taking into account that it is Russia, and people also speak Russian. These peculiarities did not disappear. These people are haughty and sensitive to some acts and behaviour of our tourists that are not a characteristic of the behaviour of their men and women,' Pasechnik told.
In turn, the president of the Association of Tourist Agencies of Tatarstan Ramil Miftakhnov noted that our 'reckless people' will be afraid of a trip to North Caucasus, in spite of the unstable situation in Turkey.
'The remains of the ancient luxury are located there'
Infrastructure is the main problem.
'There are not many places to visit there. Nothing new has appeared. There are no great restoration works, health resorts and recreation centres. I was in Dombay almost 6 months ago. Their hotels are very… There are good hotels too. But the infrastructure is mainly very low, though there is a ski resort that is seriously developing. Prices in ski resorts are attractive,' Natalia Abramovich says.
'A ski resort in North Caucasus is cheaper than in Sochi, of course. In Sochi, the price tag in the ski resort is close to Europe because there is a quality, another level. In Caucasus, it is developing, of course, but not by leaps and bounds like in Sochi after the Winter Olympics. The remains of the ancient luxury are located there,' Ramil Miftakhov commented.
The state of pistes, including the technical equipment, raise many questions.
'North Caucasus can be cheaper. But the state of its pistes leaves much to be desired. It doesn't have the tourist flow like Krasnaya Polyana. First of all, it influences safety because all funiculars were set 30 years ago. Their technical base did change much compared to, for example, Sochi because we mean quite huge investments,' Pasechnik noted.
Who is faster: Tatarstan or North Caucasus?
In these conditions, ambitious plans for a 5-million tourist flow, which North Caucasus is going to reach in some years, raise the experts' doubts. Not only the quality of the tourist infrastructure of the regions but basically its lack is the major problem.
'Taking into account the number of the modern infrastructure in North Caucasus, it is paltry in comparison with other resorts,' Ramil Miftakhov commented. 'For instance, if we are speaking about Mineral Waters, an average treatment period is 2 weeks. If we mean Kazan, an average trip takes 3 days. In Kazan, we host 2,7m people, while South Caucasus – 2m. If we multiply 2m people by 14 nights, we won't have rooms. The numbers are not real. Probably they motivate the expenditure of money from the federal centre this way. They don't have such a material base to host all people.'
It should be noted, Tatarstan is going to increase the tourist flow to 5m people in the short run. However, as Natalia Abramovich noted, the republic has a good potential for this purpose.
'We forecast that 5m tourists will visit Tatarstan in two years. This data is impartial that we are trying to reach. The most important thing is that the Republic of Tatarstan has a potential for this purpose. I can't say if North Caucasus has it. Yes, there is nature, health and ski resorts. And reaching 5m tourists… We should know today's number of tourists to judge. If we have 3,2m people now, 5m people will be quite real in 2 years. If they host 1,2m people now, 5m tourists definitely won't come. But it is possible if they develop like Tatarstan,' Abramovich told.