CASE STUDY 15 : ADVENTURE TOURISM IN SIBERIA - THE ...



CASE STUDY: ADVENTURE TOURISM IN SIBERIA – THE AUTONOMOUS REPUBLIC OF SAKHA YAKUTIA IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

(The author gratefully acknowledges the great help he has received in preparing this case study from Marina Sukueva and Sergei Kyrilov of the Government of the Autonomous Republic of Sakha-Yakutia, Russian Federation.)

Sakha-Yakutia is an autonomous republic within the Russian Federation. It covers a territory of 3,103,000 square kilometres but has a population of only 1,062,000. The population density is only 0.34 per square kilometre, one of the lowest figures in the world, because this is a land of wilderness and climate extremes. Winter temperatures are the lowest on the planet with -71.2ºC reached in 1926, but summer temperatures rise to 40ºC.

The republic is in Eastern Siberia, nearly 7000 kilometres east of Moscow and less than 2000 kilometres from the Sea of Okhotsh.

Much of the territory has a layer of permafrost just a little way below the surface. The climate is so extreme that water and gas pipes in the city have been placed above ground while houses in the capital, Yakutsk, have to be built on small stilts so they are not in direct contact with the ground.

Most of the land surface is either Taiga or Tundra, with huge rivers such as the Lena, bisecting the land.

The fauna includes bears, wolves, moose, and deer, and there are more than fifty species of fish found in the rivers and lakes. Rare flowers and many types of berries are also found in Yakutia.

The population is made up of 120 nationalities or races as follows :

Russians 47%

Yakuts 39%

Ukranians 6%

Evenks 1%

Others 7%

The population is falling by about 6,000 per year and most people live in the towns and cities that have been carved out of the wilderness.

Tourism is difficult because of the distances, climate, and terrain. Roads are pot-marked with ice damage and the rivers are frozen over for much of the year. The Trans-Siberian railway stops 1000 kilometres short of Yakutsk. The republic relies heavily on air transport, therefore with Yakutsk, in summer, being linked to Moscow by a daily flight. There are also flights two or three times a week to Vladivostok, Irkutsk, Novosibirsk, St. Petersburg, and Khabarousk.

The economy of the republic is an interesting mixture with a thriving diamond-mining industry and traditional nomadic agriculture.

Salaries in the republic are above the national average for the Russian Federation but prices are high too, due to the geographical isolation and climate of the region.

Tourism is currently little developed in the republic, although it has great potential for the development of adventure tourism. Currently the only major tourist activity consists of river cruises on the Lena river.

Exhibit 1 looks at the different types of tourism, which could be described as adventure tourism in some way or other, that Sakha-Yakutia has the potential to develop:

Exhibit 1 :

Because of the wild environment, extreme climate, and lack of infrastructure, almost all tourism in Sakha-Yakutia could be viewed as adventure tourism!

Let us now look in more detail at the types of tourism shown in Exhibit 1.

Special Events such as the ‘Pole of Cold’ Festival

Yakutia hosts a number of specialist events each year which attract tourists, including the following:

o The ‘Pole of Cold’, a festival which takes place each March held in Tomtor, the coldest place on earth. It is possible to take part in traditional sports during this festival as well as more modern activities such as snow-mobile races and reindeer racing. There is also a rally overland to the site of the festival, in specially adapted lorries, through the Siberian winter wilderness.

o Yoyakh, a traditional midsummer festival of the indigenous Yakut people. It involves games and sports such as wrestling along with a chance to learn more about the folklore of this ethnic group.

o The annual Tabyk International Ethnic Music Festival which brings musicians and singers from all over the world. The local contribution to the festival includes toyoh improvised epic singing and ancient Shaman rituals.

o The Ice-carving Festival that takes place in March each year in which sculptors create works of art from ice. The event attracts visitors from as far afield as Argentina, Korea, Japan, Italy, and Germany.

o The International Sports Games, ‘Children of Asia’, which takes place in the Republic every four years. These games have been labelled the Children’s Olympics, and they last took place in 2000. The event combines sports competitions with cultural events.

Natural history vacations

A republic with such a diverse and rich nature has potential for adventurous natural history tourism. It is particularly suitable for holidays for those interested in:

o Birds, as the territory has 285 indigenous bird species and wetlands which are the focus for the migration of thousands of geese and ducks

o Flora given that Sakha-Yakutia has more than 3,000 species of flora including no fewer than 510 types of mushrooms and 550 species of lichen

o Animals which roam freely, including brown bears, moose, foxes, wolves, polar bears, and various breeds of deer and sables.

There is already some commercialisation of this sector. In 2001, for example, a locally based tour operator was offering a bird-watching holiday to the delta of the Lena river in the Arctic region.

It is not only today's natural history that brings people to the region. Tours are also offered to see the remains of the wildlife of yesteryear, most notably woolly mammoths, on what is called the Mammoth Hill expedition.

Natural history holidays are aided by the existence of an initiative whereby the WWF, and the republic are co-operating on the protection of 700,000 square kilometres of territory.

One interesting variation on the natural history holiday theme are the camps for children in the middle of nature where urban youngsters go to learn about nature and get some fresh air. While clearly dating from the Soviet era, they still survive as the author can testify from personal experience.

Hunting trips

Hunting is a way of life for the indigenous peoples such as the Yakuts and the Evenks, but it is now a major attraction too for both Russian and foreign tourists, in spite of the controversy surrounding hunting.

Hunting tourism is more highly marketed than any form of tourism in the republic. A typical package, being advertised in 2001 illustrates this point.

The package was a 12-day tour including 7-days hunting and sightseeing time in Moscow or Magadan. The hotel price was $4,750 per participant, excluding all airfares and helicopter trips to the hunting camp, for a group of 3 hunters.

The package included:

o Accommodation in heated tents at the hunting camp

o All meals in Yakutia, with some alcoholic beverages

o Ground transportation in Yakutia

o Airport transfers and assistance at the airport

o The services of guides and English/German instructors.

Each participant was entitled to one ‘Moose Trophy’ – in other words, the specially prepared head of a moose shot by the hunter.

The hunter also had to pay for extras such as:

o Hotels in Yakutsk and Moscow – about $500–$600 per person

o Helicopter transfer from Yakutsk to the hunting camp and back ($1,500)

o Air tickets from Moscow to Yakutsk (around $860) or Magadan to Yakutsk (around $490).

Hunters could also buy extra ‘trophies’ to take home with prices of $2,900 for bears, $1,450 for wolves, and $1000 for Caribou.

This type of package clearly raises questions from an ethical point of view, but it is clear from the marketing literature that hunting tourism in Yakutia attracts hunters from Europe and the USA, as well as Japan.

As well as hunting animals, Yakutia also attracts people for fishing holidays in the lakes and rivers. Websites on Yakutia contain several glowing reports from those who have taken such vacations, as well as images of fishermen with the fish they have caught, some of which are more than two metres long.

Clearly, organised fishing tours are already taking place to the republic with potential for more growth in the future.

Meeting the indigenous peoples of the republic

Yakutia is home to several indigenous tribes and ethnic groups, some of which are now keen to welcome tourists who want to learn more about their lifestyles.

The Yakuts or Sakhas are traditionally horse-breeders while the Evenks are nomadic reindeer breeders. Both groups have a rich folklore.

Yakut society is based on the overlordship of Tojans or tribal chiefs. After decades of persecution there is a resurgence of interest in the Sakha language and culture amongst Yakut. While the republic now bears their name they are a minority people in it and they tend to be poorer than their Russian neighbours.

The Evenks are a small group, with only around 15,000 in 1996. Many of them still live a tough, isolated, nomadic existence, dictated by the needs of their reindeer.

Today a number of Yakut and Evenks have set up little enterprises to teach visitors about their respective ways of life. This includes their traditional food and drink, much of which seem exotic to foreigners such as the fermented mare's milk (Kumys) and the horse intestine sausages of the Yakuts.

These indigenous groups are also of great interest to those seeking spiritual enlightenment because their religion is based on Shamanism, a mystical belief system based on the existence of Shamans – wise men and women who are a combination of mystics, poets, social workers, and doctors. Shamanism in this part of the world has similarities with those found in Borneo and Amazonia!

Winter sports – ski-ing and dog sledding

Yakutia offers great opportunities, because of its climate, for various kinds of winter sports. For instance, the internet in 2001 advertised the following trips:

o A dog-sledding tour from Chersky near the Arctic Ocean to uninhabited areas

o A winter reindeer-sledding expedition to the Lena Pillars, a beauty spot in the national park, by the River Lena.

There are also reindeer safaris offered by Evenk people. The region also has scope for the development of traditional cross-country ski-ing.

Visits to the ‘Gulag’ labour camps

This republic contains a large number of the old Soviet ‘gulags’ or labour camps where political prisoners and criminals were sent from Tzarist times to the Stalinist era and beyond.

With the end of the communist system, there has been growing interest in visiting these camps, from the friends and relatives of those who were sent to these camps.

The eerie remains of some of the camps still litter the wilderness.

Visitors can visit a genuine Stalinist prison camp along with the Indigirha River gold mines where the prisoners worked. At the same time they can pan for gold themselves on the river.

While one cannot deny the emotional motivation to visit these camps by friends and relatives of the prisoners, there have to be ethical questions over whether or not tourists as such should be encouraged to visit these tragic sites.

Industrial tourism

Yakutia is one of the world's largest diamond-producing regions and it also produces gold, oil, and natural gas. There is scope to develop tourism based on diamonds and gold, through the development of themed tours, for example, especially in the mining areas.

Traditional Siberian crafts also offer scope for industrial tourism, with tourists being able to visit and buy the products of craftspeople, particularly jewellery and clothes. Craftspeople also produce goods which are highly controversial such as fur coats and ornaments made from mammoth tusks.

River cruises

Cruises on the Lena and other rivers are a popular attraction for local people, Russian tourists, and a few foreigners. The boats offer cabin accommodation, meals and entertainment at night. Often they stop overnight at beauty spots such as the Lena Pillars, so visitors can go ashore for evening fish barbecues and for walks in the national park.

The cruise seasons is of course constrained by the freezing over of the river. In 2001, boat trips were scheduled between 28 May and 27 October. The duration of the cruises varies between weekend cruises of around 48 hours to longer voyages of four to six days.

In 2001, three companies were advertising river cruises in the republic.

Summary

It is clear that Yakutia has great potential for different forms of adventure tourism, so why does it not attract more visitors? The government of the republic has now started to market itself enthusiastically, through an innovative website, for instance, but as we will now see it still faces many obstacles to becoming a more popular destination.

Obstacles to the Development of Adventure Tourism in Sakha-Yakutia

The region faces several major obstacles in developing its adventure tourism sector, notably:

o Its geographical isolation and the lack of direct air services from foreign airports

o The cost of accommodation and food is quite high due to climatic and geographical factors, together with the fact that some of the infrastructure is geared to the needs of affluent business tourists

o There is a lack of marketing expertise amongst entrepreneurs and a lack of experienced, skilled staff

o The republic suffers from the negative image of Russia as a whole in terms of political stability, economic stability and crime, although Yakutia does not seem to have these problems

o Some of the infrastructure is poor quality while there is a lack of information on some areas

o It faces strong competition for its types of adventure tourism from easier destinations such as Alaska and Finland

o Some of its tourism is based on hunting which could harm the republic's reputation outside Russia with some potential visitors.

On the other hand there are signs that progress is being made. The government has a tourism strategy which it is pursuing and its special events are becoming better known. At the same time, slowly, the infrastructure is developing. For example:

o The airport at Yakutsk has been partly modernised in recent years

o The website for Yakutia in 2001 listed some 28 agencies, based in Yakutia, which offer different kinds of pre-packaged tours in Yakutia, although it is likely that some of these are moribund or on a very small scale

o The national park authorities are working with the WWF to protect the environment. They have also erected visitor centres and set out marked footpaths

o Good quality hotels and restaurants are being developed slowly while some private room accommodation is now on offer in some of the remoter parts of the republic

o Several entrepreneurs have set up attractions where visitors can learn about the culture of the indigenous people.

Conclusions and the future

The last ten years has been a period of uncertainty for the tourism industry in Yakutia. However, the region has the potential to attract more tourists for various forms of adventure if it can overcome the problems identified in the last section.

It is certainly an exceptional place, unique on earth, with a mixture of attractions from friendly, indigenous people to extreme climate to wilderness to the rich, but elusive wildlife.

With the combined efforts of its government tourism marketers, the National Park authorities and its entrepreneurs, it will hopefully realise its potential while protecting the uniqueness of its culture and the physical environment.

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River cruises

Special events such as the ‘Pole of Cold’ Festival

Industrial tourism, notably diamond production

Natural history vacations

Sakha Yakutia

Hunting trips

Visits to the ‘Gulag’ labour camps

Meeting the indigenous peoples of the Republic notably the Yakutsk and the Evenks

Winter Sports - ski-ing and

dog sledding

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