DOI: 10.15507/2076-2577.010.2018.04.074-087
Ekaterina М. Gavina,
Director of Tourist Information Center of the Republic of Mordovia
(Saransk, Russia), gavina@list.ru
Marina A. Zhulina,
Candidate Sc. {Geography}, Associate Professor, Head of the Department of Tourism,
Ogarev Mordovia State University,
Deputy Minister for Culture, National Policy, Tourism and Archival Affairs of the Republic of Mordovia (Saransk, Russia), mzhulina@mail.ru
Liudmila V. Sotova,
Candidate Sc. {Geography}, Associate Professor, Department of Tourism,
Ogarev Mordovia State University
(Saransk, Russia), sotova@mail.ru
Maksim I. Firstov,
Head of Tourism Development Division,
Ministry for Culture, National Policy, Tourism and Archival Affairs of the Republic of Mordovia
(Saransk, Russia), firstovmi@e-mordovia.ru
The rich cultural heritage of Finno-Ugric peoples is a self-important and an integral part of Russian and world culture. Tourism makes popular historical, cultural and natural monuments, folk crafts, national cuisine and parts of non-material culture, thus contributing to their preservation and development. Nowadays for many indigenous peoples of Russia (especially those, whose numbers are small) the development of ethnic tourism is an only way to preserve the traditions and customs. For that reason, the development of ethnic tourism, and in particular shaping a competitive tourism in Finno-Ugric regions are highly relevant. The Republic of Mordovia as the national region situated in the center of the European part of Russia has some advantages in the development of regional market of tourism services. The presence of unique heritage of Mordovian national culture, including places of interest, customs of national art crafts, regular events, national cuisine etc., makes ethnic tourism one of the main priorities for the development of Mordovia. The purpose of this study is to define efficient ways for the development of ethnic tourism in the Republic of Mordovia and establish a competitive ethnic itinerary based on the identified criteria for tour itineraries on the present-day market.
The research efforts led to the setting up ethnic itinerary “The call of Torama”, aimed at the unification of competitive elements of regional tourism and providing effective sales of the itinerary on the Russian tourist market. The itinerary is a weekend tour. It is based on the objects of ethnic tourism, complemented by the visits to the main attractions of Saransk and areas of the Republic of Mordovia.
«The call of Torama» is included in the branded itinerary list of Russia. The experience of the Republic of Mordovia in the formation of a branded ethnic itinerary can be successfully applied in other regions. The article analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of the itinerary and provides recommendations for its improvement.
Key words: cultural tourism; ethnic tourism; objects of ethnic tourism; tourist potential; tour itinerary; branded itinerary; Finno-Ugric space.
For citation: Gavina EM, Zhulina MA, Sotova LV, Firstov MI. Tour itinerary “The Call of Torama” for the development of ethnic tourism in the Republic of Mordovia. Finno-ugorskii mir = Finno-Ugric World. 2018; 4: 74–87. (In Russian)
