Tourism Potential of lake Baikal

The fact that the Lake Baikal region, like many others, has huge resources for recreation, wellness, healthy recreation, shows even a simple enumeration of possible species and varieties of tourism and recreational activities.

Depending on "vehicles":

• autotravel,

• mototourism,

• hiking,

• tourism, using "light" aircraft,

• bicycle tourism,

• boating tourism (kayaking, sailing and motor boats, and the so-called)

• rafting on the Baikal rivers

• horse tourism and travel by dog sled in winter,

• travel on sea and river vessels (yachts, "comet")

• ski touring,

• Travel on the ice boats, ATVs, snowmobiles and off-road vehicles on the ice of Lake Baikal

• Travel with kites - large kites that pull for a travel on skis, skates and other devices.

Depending on the "sports" and exotic interests; - mountaineering,

- diving (descents into the water in the tank) - swimming, recreational,

- sports games (tennis, baseball)

- parachuting and aerosport,

- gliding,

- archery,

- skating,

- skiing,

- Skiing,

- sledding (snowmobile, speedway)

- hips, ice "yacht"

- water skiing,

shooting at moving objects,

-launch kites.

Depending on the types of activities in nature:

the study of nature, sightseeing, watching animals and birds, underwater surveillance,

• photographing animals

• fishing,

• Collection of forest products,

• different kinds of hunting (bear, on the migratory bird hunting with traps, etc.)

• participation in competitions announced by the local authorities and tour operators (snow and ice sculpture)

Depending on the nature of the joint holiday:

• camping (group, avtotreylerny, in tents)

• spa vacation,

• Sports camps,

• picnics

• beach holiday.

Depending on the "cultural" interests:

• sightseeing

• national parks and reserves

• attending sporting events,

• visits to traditional ethnic festivals (surharban, ceremonies Semeiskie, etc.)

• visits to exhibitions and museums in nature (complex Taltzy and the Irkutsk region, the ethnographic museum in Ulan-Ude)

• visiting archaeological sites

Among the specific objects of tourist interest in the Baikal region may be:

 - Unique collection of ancient Eastern medical and philosophical manuscripts, which today often are gathering dust in back rooms of museums of Buryatia, Irkutsk, not exhibited or used in datsans and other places of worship.

 - Entries shamanic ritual texts available at each of Siberian peoples, preserved by scientists and enthusiasts.

 - First-class collection of ancient paintings and Church of rarities, which are stored in some people Semeiskie-Old Believer villages.

 - Pictures of the old-russian, old- buryat, old-yakutsk, Tibetan religious art, preserved not only in museums but also among individual collectors.

- Book collection of the Decembrists and Siberian bibliophiles, still causing an inexhaustible interest.

 - Rich local history collection, revealing the history and cultural heritage of the peoples of Siberia.

In no less interest for tourists - domestic and foreign - will be articles once neglected but now restored crafts of indigenous peoples:

- Weaving of horsehair;

- Embossing on copper and silver;

- Jewelry art;

- Manufacturing of tanka - Buddhist icons.

It is the Baikal region that has three officially recognized in Russia Buddhist shrine: a statue of Zandan-Zhuu in Egituyskom datsan, Atlas of Tibetan Medicine and imperishable body of Hambo Lama Etigelov. And this, too (if not blasphemous to say) is a powerful travel resource.

The presence of "external" objects of tourist business, by modern standards must necessarily be accompanied by an analysis of internal causes of interest to them. This is the ABC of marketing psychology. And therefore draw your attention to the motives, attracting tourists to visit the lake, and especially its unexplored places:

- Recreation,

- The worship of relics, which are connected with religious positions, the memory of ancestors rest in these places, revered by personalities, etc.

- Sports, often those of its species, which in places where those people live, is impossible to take part in

- To feel the charm of wildlife while exploring it,

- To escape from everyday life,

- To sightsee showplaces of nature, which have become integral components of national and world heritage

- Getting new emotional experiences,

- Getting a sense of satisfaction of various types - from experiencing emotional admiration, mental relaxation, empathy, unity with nature,

- Awareness that you are perfectly coped with the difficulties of stay in the harsh conditions of Wildlife, overcame what beyond the power of others,

- The desire to visit the places where privacy is a very tangible feeling, the spirit of pioneering, etc.

- Get the impression, as distinct from those obtained in daily life

- Enjoying the beauty and infinite variety of the many relationships that exist in fulfilling the natural environment.

The significance of understanding the motives and incentives to travel freely admits the economy and tourism. Thus, in modern marketing there is a psychographic approach, the essence of which is the study and use in the interest of economy of personal preferences, tastes, value orientations and preferences. Because deciding to go or not go at any given journey the man takes himself. It depends not only on the thickness of the wallet, but on the desire to change the situation, get new experiences, to unwind from the boredom and the blues, bow to sacred for themselves historical or contemporary attributes. And sometimes external information effectively presenting, entered into resonance with the inner world of the person does something that any money can make.

Our research in June 2007, which includes questions about the motives of tours to Lake Baikal, has revealed their next character (represented only part of the motive: N = more than 1000 attendees,);

1. The fame of Lake Baikal in Russia and other countries as sites of world heritage -77.7%

2. Communicating with the wildlife, enjoy its beauty - 62,6%

3. Desire to get rich and diverse experience, differing from those obtained in daily life - 40,5%

4. The desire to relax, have fun-24, .4%

5. To get acquainted with the religious and domestic rituals of the local population, to participate in them - 21.1%

6. Acquaintance with the diversity of people living in areas around the lake, with their cultures - 19,1%

The score of the motive "person simply nowhere put the money" is very low (3,6%), and it is said that tourism does not fit into simple stereotypes of spending.

The study showed also that the motivation is different depending on a number of socio-psychological categories of people: men and women, youth, middle age and elderly, people with different levels of education, various professional interests and hobbies, family and single, etc. All of this suggests that psychological research can contribute to the targeting of tourist services, which today is very important in economic terms.

For tourists traveling to the remote Siberian region, especially foreigners, arises socio-psychological reasons in the mind. Among them, in the first place - get the status of "seasoned" with knowledge of passing through the lights, water and copper pipes, a man coming to take any risk. Once I had to listen to an American who came to our land by life's circumstances. His recollection of the wires on this trip reminded me of a famous Russian song: "Like my own mother walked with, the whole village, all the relatives came running ..." He has a sense of humor remembered as "ahs" and "ohs" expressed by his relatives and familiar, as they felt sorry for him, etc. In these stories there is a second side: how that kind of person would be able by his stories about new, unusual, exotic to attract the attention of others as he could by some (even fictional stories) to raise his status after arrival.

In general, multi-directional orientation motives of tourists we are to keep in mind.

There is an opinion that Lake Baikal - is in itself the established tourism product with its distinctive and attractive brand name and that he "will show" the motives of tourists, but it is unreasonable. Not proving that the attractiveness of trips to the banks of the sacred sea of tourists to foreign countries is negative due to some reasons. Among them are first called the economic and environmental. Briefly some of them.

• There is a significant cost of any tour in Siberia and Lake Baikal. For example, to the inhabitants of the Europe, in order to rest in a week in the exotic locations in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean, is necessary to have funds in the amount of 400-600 dollars, while the only road to Lake Baikal throwing up from its budget at least $ 1000.

Also there is a problem of accommodation and hotel rooms. Because the cost of building hotels in the region is huge, and tourist season in the Siberian territories is limited to a few months. Hence, prices are impossibly for tourists: many times higher than in the well-known European tourist hotels. And unattainable object will be unflattering feedback (on well-known principle: "And grapes, the green"). This factor is compounded in Russia's scale by challenge of procedures for obtaining visas. Many competitors in the struggle for Russia to attract foreign tourists not only reduce processing time, but refuse them at all.

• the existence on the shores of Lake Baikal two environmental monsters - Baikal Pulp and Paper and Selenga Pulp and Paper Combine - Repels from visits to our sites. Their existence in the wild and picturesque places and especially their negative impact on the nature of the lake is at least puzzling for many true lovers of natural beauty. Here is a typical example. When the graduate of the department of social and economic psychology emerged on the Internet for communications with their German colleagues, who have not been on the lake, they immediately asked: "Why do you allow to operate chemical plants and to pollute the Baikal?" In the perception of many foreigners, as well as the ancient inhabitants, there are places where blasphemous to make the activities aimed at destroying the original media. Established in the minds of many was and remains a sacred sea.

• Anarchist period of development of capitalism in Russia in the late 20 and the early 21 century gave rise to spontaneous construction of the Baikal shores of all sorts of cottages, boarding houses, tourist bases. In this case, few people thought about the artistic, aesthetic appearance of developments. They, concocted by their color and taste unencumbered care about the beauty of the nature of the owners, do not decorate, but spoil the Baikal shore, destroying all their naturalness, and making them unattractive. The same can be said about the plans for Lake Baikal in certain areas of mass hotels and inns. Concrete, stone and glass construction, (concrete jungle as they are known in the West), ill-conceived in its design is unlikely to add scenic shores of Baikal.

• We cannot but say about a brief period during which the majority of "ordinary" tourists from abroad can really admire the beauty of the Holy Sea (short Siberian Summer), and even more so to swim in it. There is no end of tourists in two or three summer months at Lake Baikal, in the late autumn, winter and spring silence reigns in almost all hotels and camp sites, business income fell significantly. Tourism resources are optimally loaded with only one third of the year and give practically relevant part of the potential revenue.

• Powerful, intimidating factor for both foreign and domestic tourists is the existence in the woods Pribaikal blood-sucking ticks, some of which are carriers of encephalitis. This phenomenon - a natural, but unfortunately, it does not work for the benefit of the nature of Lake Baikal.

We briefly talked about the real disadvantages that are the obstacles in the development of tourism. But we cannot be thought of the reasons for the potential nature, when its available resources are weakly developed. First of all, in our view, should be evaluated the potentials of business tourism. Let’s recall that under the existing definitions of business tourism, it is a travel for official purposes without the income of the place of secondment. Business tourism affects all spheres of life: in mission for economic, administrative, educational, scientific, legal and other reasons, a huge mass of people arrives in town and villages on both sides of the lake. Frankly, a considerable number of these visitors come not so much in order to realize business goals, but with a desire to visit unique places. Come on reconciling work and personal interests naturally thinks every second: most hospitable "welcoming" is also not without vested interests are seconded to admire the pearl of Siberia, to touch her beauty, to communicate with its nature. Statistics do not know, and hardly know, how many of these business travelers throughout the year are on the sacred sea. But at least two points may relate to the potentials of this type of tourism. Firstly, through the experiences guests are required to ensure that they "renewed their pleasure" or (and) have been returned to Lake Baikal. Second, the guests of such service is useful, again through their experiences to make "voice" of the sacred beauty of the sea, people, infecting "germs" Baikal brand of their colleagues, friends and relatives in their places of residence.

Another poorly numerical "iceberg" of tourism is a visit to Lake Baikal by the people who make short-lived stops at airports and railway stations in the Baikal region for travel to other towns and villages. Speech in such cases can be carried out on tours for transit passengers, specially tailored to their specific interests not only of cognitive-environmental, but also national and cultural character. To implement the latter can, in particular, to representatives of specific countries, to ensure the attendance of all places, in one way or another left the memory of their own compatriots, and such facts have more than enough, and some of them we described in the section of the Aliens on Lake Baikal.

The territory of Buryatia and Irkutsk is conveniently located in the heart of Asia and may become a kind of stopover duration of foreign business people and tourists, passing in different directions. For example, many foreign visitors travel through eastern Siberia to the more successful in the field of recreation Mongolia and China. According to the information of interested tourism organizations of Buryatia and Irkutsk region, only about a fifth of coming here to discover the region, others linger only for a day - twice. The latter figure can be "stretched" over a longer period, but this needs to take some effort. Centers of the two regions and their larger settlements should have a good basis, adjusted for queries tranzitnikov. But now, even in large cities do not have plaques with the names of streets on the "international" English, not to mention the business-information center, in which any visitor could get information about hotels, transport, tariffs in service on both sides of Lake Baikal. There is a lack in numbering capacity in hotels, there is no a system of tourist services, various problems at railway stations, customs offices, airports. The use of transit resources also leaves much to be desired.

At the same time should be said about tourism reorientation of the business world, arriving in East Siberia from a purely pragmatic purposes. In connection with the industrial development of the region, the construction of the "gas" of objects, holding the oil pipe from Siberia to the Far East and other modern economic projects the number of visitors will increase. With dedicated work of travel agencies in this direction on both sides of Lake Baikal "transit" resource organization of visits of Lake Baikal would be very beneficial.

In addition to "transit" and business travel in the Baikal region, in our opinion, a very high place must take "exotic" tourism, whose spectrum can be very significant. In the psychological effect of such tourism are most successful are the motives "test yourself", "check your luck," "Escape from the hustle and bustle." This will be manifested purely individualistic (do not care about others' opinions) and demonstrative nature tours ("let everyone see what I and fellow heart of oak"). By implementing the first two motives can be attributed hunting tours: shooting bears, moose, red deer and other hoofed animals, which are increasingly attracting fans of exotic. Tourism itself can and should be done not only economically but also environmentally desirable. For example, for the experience we are not to walk far away. So in the nearest foreign country, Mongolia - examples of return of hunting tourism are dazzling: shooting a rare mountain sheep is from 6 to 25 thousand dollars. The country has a huge part of tourism based on hunting, and debugged with the return mechanism acts: more than 10% of revenue goes to the restoration of the population of a rare animal. It is not difficult to calculate that the payback tourist haunting as a business is not in any comparison with the profitability of a number of economic spheres, such as logging: "pine tree grows 70 years, and animals - five or six years, and" worth "a thousand times more expensive".

Motives for "Escape from the hustle," "Stay one" (together) dealt mainly with the people who love solitude and seclusion, in a personal sense – they are pronounced introverts, also tired of the oversaturation of social contacts. Today there are more and more such people fleeing into the forest, or at least a "village" silence from the pressure of urban relationships. To meet such requests in the Baikal taiga there are so many opportunities through the construction of "isolated" and the detached cabin, where you can safely stay at a good level providing their primary needs.

Special emphasis on Lake Baikal requires the development of winter tourism, which will allow visitors to upload existing or under construction hotels in the Baikal region during cold periods of the year at least to a minimum. If we take into the consideration the early snowfall in accessible southern and north-east of the Baikal Region (October - November) when there are no severe frosts, or the appropriate formation of ice in the embassy Copy and Proval Bay, as well as opportunities to engage in some of Lake Baikal in winter sports not so cold months (second half of February to 10 April), the prospects for winter tourism may be considered significant if adjusted its timing, direction and shape of interested bodies and businesses on both sides of the lake.

In the Irkutsk region in 2003, the biggest tourist and sports event in the Baikal region – Winteriada - is held. Here are merged sports passion, exotic rites of ancient religions and disco marathons under a starry sky. In the programs of Winteriada there are different mass rallies, folk festivals and major sporting events involving amateurs, and professionals: cups of mini-football and snow volleyball, runs dog sledding, golfing on the ice races on Lake Baikal to kites, etc. These interesting events -holidays are organized by the various firms. Among the brightest events can be identified:

• Ice Marathon, which since 2006 is held under the motto "For the preservation of clean waters of Lake Baikal”, and in it, along with Russia's marathon are involved athletes from Western Europe, Germany, Poland, Austria, Switzerland, as well as from Japan. For example, in 2007, a marathon 42 km 195 meters from Tankhoi to Listvyanka on the frozen lake was broken by a few athletes, but to everyone's surprise winner was the German Jan Troutman. Since this kind of marathons are unique, the famous English writer Kim Mann Connel turned Baikal in thirty of the best extreme races of the world, along with those that take place in the tropics, the Amazon, the Sahara desert, the Himalayas and Antarctica;

• Reality - show "Call of the Wild" of the Company "Sputnik - Baikal"; here wishing cross the three phases with a total length of 120 km skiing, snowmobiling and dog sledding;

• Campaign Grand - Baikal organizes the transition snowmobile lovers of extreme tourism in the wild taiga of the Lena and Baikal Ice, a distance of one thousand kilometers of roadways in the complete absence of roads along the hunting trails and snow deposits travelers need to overcome in 10 days.

Without a doubt, the Baikal tourism has task to create a whole series of such "Winteriada” in handy for it sites, which would be alternated each other during the autumn-winter period. All the prerequisites are in place. For example, by holding an annual tournament in the Small Sea ice-fishing on the west shore of Lake Baikal, a host of hotels operate in the cold season. The result of the Baikal mountaineering ski marathon is the construction of the international ski stadium class at Angarsk. The project has been developed and implemented, and in five years the Irkutsk region – is the only region of Russia east of Krasnoyarsk Territory - with such a sports facility.

In recent years it has become fashionable sculpting ice sculptures and ice build facilities in various towns and villages. For example, in Baikalsk sculptors created the ice for the Epiphany holiday piece from the Bible - the baptism of Jesus Christ in the Jordan River. Each sculpture is of the size of a normal person. In the center there is a knee-deep in water Jesus, to the left is John the Baptist, and to the right is an angel. In winter, in the last three years (2008-2010) were organized, in addition to "Winteriada", international festival of ice sculptures like "Crystal seal”. "Ice" sculptors from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Perm, Krasnoyarsk, Yekaterinburg were invited. Decorated by soundlights, the exhibits of a variety of icy masterpiece can be demonstrated in different places of the Baikal coast, starting in December, the benefit of ice is at all enough from this time. If to this kind of competitions join the competitive instruments and appear settlements stimulated by the competition between municipalities, then the creation would have no limit. And the coast of Lake Baikal would be adorned by unique and attractive for tourists sculptures.

Expanding the ethno-psychological features of tourism at Lake Baikal is worth remembering about national parks, which are an important factor in recreation. Today, the world's two major trends are activated: 1) parks and architectural 2) Parks, conventionally called fairy-historical. The most famous example of the first trend in Europe is Brupark in Brussels. It contains more than 100 (1:25 scale) models of the most famous architectural monuments of 12 countries of the EEC. The selection was made by historians of art; models were created in 55 workshops in seven countries of the Community, where modelers - designers recreate famous works of the samples down to the smallest detail. Each country in this mini - Europe sought to be brought before the public in the most attractive way. Thus, the Spaniards made Christopher Columbus monument in Barcelona for their visiting card, the stadium for the corrida in Seville, a village of La Mancha, with figures of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, the palace of El Escorial, the Cathedral of St. James in Santiago de Compostela, the British - Westminster Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, the French - Sacre Kerr, a triumphal arch, Beaubourg, the Belgians - the castle walls in Antwerp, the city hall of fur county, etc. Following the example of Europeans, similar to "park" attractions of the Siberian peoples, one can create them as on Irkutsk, as on the "Buryat" sides. This can be done quickly, using existing territory and constructions in museums of Taltzy and under the Ulan-Ude.

The second trend, which is distributed in Europe, is the historic parks, inviting viewers “to feel the atmosphere of past years". More recently they start getting a startling shade. In Poland, for example, the theme park was made of the famous "Wolf's Lair" - Hitler's command post on the eastern front during the World War II. Serving tourists’ staff wears uniforms of Luftwaffe and Wehrmacht. Every evening, visitors can dance in a disco of "Hitler's Bunker", etc. In the Baikal region, such "historical" parks - areas may represent (with the presence of all relevant attributes: from housing to people with relevant roles):

• Buryat ulus with yurts and pastoral buildings, which "boils" the traditional life;

•: Evenki camp with chumami and driving the length of the deer;

• the village of Russian old residents with the appropriate attributes (they can be recovered in a considerable amount);

• Village of Old Believers - Semeiskie fully reconstituted in their socio-ethnic uniqueness (there are all conditions in some regions of Buryatia and the Chita region, Tarbagataiskiy, Bichursky, Muhorshibirsky, Krasnochikoisky and etc.);

• Trans-Baikal Cossack village, showing the basic elements of life and the life of the Cossacks (border with Mongolia regions of Buryatia and Chita Oblast);

• prison casemates Petrovsky factory and gallery Nerchinsk and other mines, where Decembrists, Volya, other domestic "patron" served a hard labor;

• Soviet-era prisons, where abode and unjustly condemned “enemies of the people”, and all sorts of dissidents, and even prisoners of war (particularly Japanese).

On the Baikal shore, the last "attraction" can be shown by above camp prisoners to the north of the lake, or today being part of the "cut off" and is decorated in Vydrinskoy colony (of course, if that would be interested by officials of relevant agencies)

The unusual tourist "resource" of exotic species will attract attention of many visitors who love "the thrill". By the way, this experience takes place in the Sakhalin region, and about it we have been told. 

See also

• The Many Faces of Multilingual and Mysterious Baikal. A.D.Karnyshev

Literature

1. A.D. Karnyshev "The Many Faces of Multilingual and Mysterious Baikal"© BSU Publishing House, 2011