Ethnical Tourism: unique non-commercial proposal

A Big step forward into tourism industry, though yet at a local level

Considering Minsk oblast only, there are currently around a hundred registered entrepreneurs who expressed an interest in providing agro-tourism services. One of the most significant engines of regional tourism is the German Government Programme on Support of Development of Minsk Oblast. The Programme Coordinator Mr. Dmitry Karpievich says:

“The Programme promotes sustainable development of the Oblast, in particular, via development of agro and eco tourism. It is important to stress here that tourism development in the Oblast is highly dynamic,  yet several years ago no one heard about it. At the moment there exist 20 farmsteads and several dozens of rural houses, whose owners are registered entrepreneurs in the area of agro-tourism. The latter, typically, are farmers and from time to time receive tourists. The function of the Programme in this regard is to build connections between the authorities in charge of tourism, managers of state tourist attractions and society: entrepreneurs and non-governmental organizations. One of the tools for building such connections is organization of informational and training seminars, round tables for all relevant players of the tourism industry in order to draft a strategy for tourism development. Such dialogue is important for everyone. Within Minsk Oblast there are several regions and each one of them needs its own concept of development. Thus, tourism in Logoisk region is different from tourism opportunities of Pukhovichi region. The understanding of one’s requirements and realizing the common nature of the goals is something that has already been achieved for sustainable social and economic development of Minsk Oblast”.

Q: “Given such dynamics, why there are only few foreign tourists coming to visit Belarus?”

“It is true, there are few of them, however the statistics of the European countries shows, that 80 % of those who engage in eco-tourism do so within their own country. Eco-tourism in general orients itself to local demand. This is normal. This means that where Germans are concerned, for example, it is hard for us to attract them. If a German wants to come to Belarus, he has to really want to do so and to be very persistent. It is not hard to get a visa, however one has to go to Bonn or Berlin to obtain it or send one’s passport to the Consulate by post, which is psychologically problematic for a German. The fact that visas can be issued at the airport does not solve the problem. Many tourists prefer to travel by car.

Unfortunately, in addition to that, Belarus cannot provide with a high quality of service. It is hard to imagine how a foreigner can come to our country on his own, without involving a tourist agency and not knowing the Russian or Belarusian language. Minsk, let alone other places, lacks a sufficient quantity of advertising booklets about the country's sights and available places to stay. There are not enough signs in English compared to other European tourist cities.

“What would be ‘famous’ attractions in Belarus? Shagal and Napoleon's rout?”

This question was addressed to the Director of the tourist company “Dudutki-tour” and the museum “Dudutki”, Mrs. Valeria Klitsunova. The founders of this museum of old-fashioned traditional technologies and handcrafts were an artist Boris Titovich and a businessman Yevgeny Budinas. Nowadays, Dudutki is probably the most famous open air museum in Belarus. Mrs. Valeria Klitsunova stressed that in order to have demand, one had to offer tourists something they could benefit from. However, in a sense, we only offer what we have, or what we are interested in. In another words, the basics of marketing – a unique commercial proposal (i.e. something unique in your proposal that a buyer could benefit from) is not competitive at all in our case.

“it is impossible to talk about an influx of tourists to Belarus right now. This requires standard infrastructure that we still lack; i.e. roads, hotels, quality catering and a tourist product itself worth seeing. Problems with obtaining a visa are an obstacle on their own, not in terms of the cost, but the bureaucratic procedures. If a country is interested in a mass influx of tourists, the visitors should have an opportunity to obtain a visa at the border, not just in the airport, any border.

In general, at the moment, Belarus doesn’t have a consistent tourist offering. There is no understanding what a European tourist wants, there are no relevant tourist routes. What are the famous attractions in Belarus? Shagal and Napoleon's Rout. And we for some reason think that foreigners know Kupala, Kolas and dream about visiting their homeland.

When we talk about a holiday on a farm, we need to think why this would be interesting for Europeans. Ethno-tourism exists in Italy, Laos, Cambodia, so why should they come here? What do we offer that could make them chose Belarus when choosing between Italy and Belarus? Theoretically, we could position ourselves to Europeans as an ‘unknown’ European country. Our villages preserve a unique lifestyle which could be interesting for ‘green’ tourists seeking direct contacts with the local inhabitants. We could also emphasize the Soviet ancestry of the country, we have quite a few things left from that era and it is now safe to get to know these. For our neighbours from Lithuania we could propose routes connected with the common history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, for Poles – with the Rzech Pospolita, for Russians – Belovezhskaya Pushcha, Viskuli and Minsk”.

The Additional challenges of our tourism

Internal demand for agro-tourism depends also on the general economic development of the country. In order to set up a good farmstead, large funds are required.

“To renovate a rural house from scratch, to have running hot and cold water, sewage, a good fireplace and a stove, a banya and other recreational facilities would cost at least 30-40 thousand US dollars. For better conditions – with a big boiler, a swimming pool with proper cleaning system, a winter garden, etc. even 100 thousand US dollars would not be enough”, says Mr. Sergey Krylovich, an entrepreneur. “I went to see a hotel near Minsk to research services and prices. It was a guest house with 5 rooms, a bath, a stove on the ground floor in the main room and a small banya. They charged 50 US dollars per person per night, including meals. I think that what I plan to offer would cost my guests about 70 US dollars per night. So, who would be willing to come? A week-end in a house near Minsk for two persons would cost almost 300 US dollars. I still have to do more calculations regarding the best way to get the money back. However I already realize that good quality eco-tourism is not cheap at all if it is modern, relaxing and comfortable. Living in a village with mosquitoes and without a proper toilet is a type of holiday accessible  to anyone - however it is for extremists…”

By Natalia Sharai