The Tourism Industry of the Tomsk Oblast, Russia

November 2001

Prepared by Maksim Masharuyev, BISNIS Representative in Tomsk, Russia

SUMMARY

Despite the availability of all the necessary resources natural, historical, cultural and others, the Tomsk Oblast has not yet become a destination for masses of tourists. There are several reasons for this, and one of the main ones is that the region was closed to foreigners during Soviet times. This definitely hindered the development of the relevant infrastructure, such as hotels, etc. However, some basic infrastructure does exist, although for the most part it does not meet international standards. The creation of an infrastructure for tourism is currently under way, thus representing opportunities for U.S. companies.

This report provides general information on the Oblast’s resources of interest to tourism companies, information on the current situation in the tourism market, and immediate opportunities for U.S. companies.

TOURISM MARKET IN THE TOMSK OBLAST

During Soviet times, Tomskturist and Sputnik, two local subsidiaries of the national monopolies, represented the local market. Tomskturist dealt mostly with domestic tourism within the Soviet Union while Sputnik was mostly known as a company for youth travel and sometimes international tourism. At the present time according available statistics there are about 40 tourist organizations active in the Tomsk Oblast market. They employ more than 200 people in total. Thirty of the organizations have all the necessary licenses for international tourism. In total volume of tourism services existing in the Tomsk Oblast those offering tours to other regions of Russia or abroad prevail.

The majority of local companies simply buy tours to foreign countries from larger companies located in Moscow or Novosibirsk (“tour operators”) and sell them in Tomsk. As in a majority other Russian cities except for Moscow, Saint Petersburg and probably Novosibirsk and Yekaterinburg, the most popular destinations for tourists from Tomsk are Turkey, Spain, Italy, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Cypress, and other countries with relatively simple visa obtaining rules and low cost. Croatia, Slovenia and other former Yugoslavian states are now becoming more popular. No local companies offer tours to the U.S. due to the complicated procedures to get a U.S. visa.

In the market for domestic (within NIS countries) tourism there are several active companies, including Tomskturist and Sputnik. Tomskturist specializes in selling tours for families to the Black Sea coast locations of Krasnodar Krai, Issik-Kul’ lake in Kyrgyzstan, Obskoye the man-made watershed in Novosibirsk Oblast, tours for children to Sochi, Anapa, Evpatoria (Crimea), and the Azov Sea. Sputnik offers tours for youth and families to the Black Sea coast. There is a number of other newer companies offering tours within Russia such as Hobby-Center - tours for families to children camps on the Black and Azov Seas coasts, and Seversktur offers tours to Lake Baikal in Siberia. Promal’p has its own tent and tourist camps in the Katun’ river valley (Altai mountains). Tours to the closest mountain ski resort Gornaya Shoriya (Mountain Shoria) a unique district located in the border of the Kemerovo Oblast, Altai and Krasnoyarsk Krais, are the prerogative of another company, Shoriya Tour. After the 1998 financial crisis in Russia almost all the companies included tours to famous tourist destinations within Russia and other NIS countries due to the low cost of travel.

Summer and Fall are traditionally the peak seasons for travel, in addition, the Russian New Year holiday time period is also a hectic time for tour sales.

The tourism market in the Tomsk Oblast has some state regulations. Thus tourism activities and especially international tours are required to be licensed and certified according to existing standards. A number of measures were designed to defend tourists’ interests and rights and especially concerning their safety. The Oblast Administration’s Tourism Department officials say that they undertake some measures to create effective economic mechanisms to foster the development of the tourism industry, stimulate tourists’ flows, and attract investment into the industry. Some measures are undertaken to support entrepreneurship in the sphere of tourism. In November 1999 the Oblast Duma (local parliament) passed a law “On Tourism Activities in the Tomsk Oblast.”

Tourism companies regularly advertise themselves in the local mass media. The Department of Tourism in the Oblast Administration supports different fairs, presentations where potential tourists can get information on different tours, and other opportunities for tourism.

Unfortunately, no specialized tours to the Tomsk Oblast are currently being marketed beyond the Oblast even for Russian tourists. Some agencies within Tomsk arrange excursions but mostly for different delegations visiting Tomsk (businessmen, scientists, politicians, etc.). The excursion division of the Tomsk Oblast Regional Museum and Tomskturist traditionally offers excursions within the city. The Museum of Wooden Architecture, Siberian Botanical Garden, Museum of Archeology and Ethnography, Museums of Zoology, Paleontology and Mineralogy at Tomsk State and Polytechnic Universities, Museum of Human Anatomy of Siberian Medical University are also active in these sorts of services.

The near absence of tourism in the Tomsk Oblast is sad, especially since the region has laid down almost all the grounds necessary for development of the tourism sector.

TOURISM POTENTIAL OF THE TOMSK OBLAST

Some Basic Facts and Natural Resources of the Tomsk Oblast

The Tomsk Oblast is located in the south-eastern part of the Western Siberian Plain, and covers an area of 314,400 square kilometers and borders with Novosibirsk, Kemerovo, Omsk, Tyumen Oblasts, and Krasnoyarsk Krai.

There are 16 administrative districts, 6 cities and 608 rural populated settlements. The city of Tomsk is the administrative center.

The population of the Oblast is about 1 million people including 700,000 urban residents, and 300,000 living in rural areas. Thus 70 percent of the Tomsk Oblast population lives in cities such as Tomsk (475,500 people), Seversk (111,900), Strezhevoi (45,700), Asino (32,000), Kolpashevo (29,400), and Kedrovii (5,500).

The geographical location and climate fully correspond with the typical nature of Siberia with a quite warm (even hot from year to year) summer and cold winter that represents a special interest for foreign tourists. Nine of the 16 districts are in the extreme North with harsh weather.

The large territory of the Oblast causes a heterogeneous landscape. It is a part of two nature zones, taiga and forest-steppe.

The territory has about 100,000 fresh water lakes. Eleven lakes have an area of more than 10 square kilometers. The largest lakes are Mirnoye, Varga-To, and Dikoye. Plenty of water basins contain considerable fish resources. Fifteen species of fish out of 33 available species are of significance for commercial fishery, the most valuable are sturgeon, white salmon, whitefish, and sterlet.

The Oblast is also rich in mineral waters and curative mud (the Chazhemto, Karasevo, and Kirek lakes are known for its curative mud). Unfortunately, these resources are not heavily used except for some production of mineral water and attempts to use curative mud. Thus, there are some opportunities for the development of a resort network.

The Oblast’s flora is one of the main components of its natural environment. Its diversity and resource potential are considerable. The total forest area is 54 percent of the Oblast territory. Light-coniferous and pine forests prevail. There are unique forest tracts of dark-coniferous trees such as cedar, fir, and spruce. Birch and aspen are mostly spread deciduous/broad-leaved trees. The flora counts about 11,000 species including 700 herbs.

Large swamps occupy much of the plain area in the Oblast. There is the world’s largest Vasyuganskoye swamp on the left bank of the Ob’ river. The swamp spans over a territory of 53,000 square meters. The flora of swamps is also rich with wild growing plants and berries such as cowberries, bilberries, cranberries, bog whortleberry, and currant.

There are 16 natural reserves (parks) located in the Alexandrovskii, Asinovskii, Verkhneketskii, Zyryanskii, Kargasokskii, Krivosheinskii, Molchanovskii, Pervomaiskii, Tegul’detskii, Tomskii, Chainskii, and Shegarskii districts, 144 natural wonders in the Oblast and unique collections of flora in the Siberian Botanical Garden (established in 1885).

The Oblast’s fauna is represented by 60 species of mammalians, and 300 species of birds. Twenty-eight species of wild but commercially hunted animals such as north deer, elk, brown beer, trot, glutton, roe, wolf, and fox inhabit the Oblast. There are also valuable fur animals: sables, ermines, squirrels, Siberian weasels and weasels in forests; muskrats, and otters along rivers and other water basin banks.

The varied landscape, and rich natural resources of the Tomsk Oblast represents huge potential for all types of tourism such as hiking and fishing.

Historical and Cultural Resources

The indigenous/aboriginal population of the Oblast consisted of the Khantys, Evenks, Chulim and Tomsk tartars – fishermen and hunters who lived along the taiga rivers. By the time the Russians came they had a culture and way of life adapted to the local natural environment. Later the population was colonized. The most numerous group of settlers in the first wave consisted of Cossacks, peasants from the central and southern parts of Russia.

The city of Tomsk, established in 1604, is one of the oldest Siberian cities. In 1700 it served as an outpost for establishing new settlements and further discovering Siberia. In 1804 Tomsk was chosen as the administrative center of a new province (Guberniya). In the 18th century, since the city is in a favorable geographical position at a crossroads between the East (Russian Far East, China and India) and the European part of Russia, the Siberia route started to play the role of a large trading center. Development of the gold mining industry concentrated large amounts of capital in Tomsk, which enlivened the activities of the Siberian business people in other spheres.

Besides the voluntary settlers encouraged by the Russian government, the Guberniya was flooded with old believers and exiles. Political exiles made up the most socially active part of the population, and they exerted some positive and constructive influence over the development of Siberia. The most famous Tomsk exiles were Radischev, Bakunin, Korolenko, Chernishevskii, and Dostoyevsky. During Tsarist times Narymskii Krai, a part of Tomsk Guberniya, was also a place of exile for such famous Soviet leaders as Kuibishev, Sverdlov, and Stalin.

In the second half of the 1900’s Tomsk became a cultural center. It became famous for the development of higher education and science. The first university and technological institute behind the Ural Mountains was established in Tomsk. Despite the increasing significance of Tomsk as the largest center of science and education in Siberia, the Trans-Siberian Railway bypassed Tomsk in the 1900’s, and thus diminished Tomsk’s role as a trading center.

In the 1920-30’s the Oblast had the status of a resource colony or a place for criminal and political exile. In the thirties and forties it became the largest district of Stalin’s SibLAG (the gulag). In early World War II, Germans from the former autonomous Povolzh’e Republic, and many Lithuanians, Latvians and Estonians and others were sent there.

The economic, social and demographic situation in the Tomsk Oblast changed during WW II. Again in the early stage of the war many plants and other industrial enterprises, research and scientific institutions, and hospitals, as well as citizens from Moscow, Leningrad, Kharkov, Kiev, Yaroslavl and other cities from western U.S.S.R were evacuated to Tomsk. During the hard times of the war, the city passed through an industrial revolution. In the following years the Tomsk Oblast continued to be an important part of Western Siberia’s economic zone.

The Tomsk Oblast holds significant historic and cultural potential, which can be used for the development of tourism. A special motive for visiting the city by tourists is its historical, architectural, archaeological and cultural sights (wonders). There are 982 such sites officially registered by the state including 613 archaeological, 162 historical, 201 architectural, and 6 of art. The city of Tomsk and Narym village are included on the list of historic locations in the Russian Federation while Tomsk State and Polytechnic Universities were included in the State Code of Especially Valuable Objects of Cultural Heritage of the Russian Federation.

The Oblast capital is remarkable for its rich diversity of tourist locales. Despite its expanding territory the city retained its uniqueness in terms of landscape, architecture, number of parks, etc. There are many beautiful old stone and wooden buildings mostly in the center of the city. Many of the stone buildings in the central parts of the city were built in the 19th century according to projects of famous architects from Moscow and St. Petersburg. There are some buildings that belong to historical architectural memorials on a national scale. The concentration of different beautiful wooden buildings in Tomsk is recognized as the highest in Russia. During Soviet times central Moscow television often used different pictures and short films with the houses as breaks between telecasts.

In addition to the numerous beautiful building, there are a large number of parks and gardens. Some are unique, such as the oldest Siberian Botanical Garden (already mentioned above) that was opened in 1885 at the University which possesses 10,000 species of different tropical and subtropical plants.

Some Prospective Projects Promoting Tomsk Heritage

The Oblast Administration’s Tourism Department is now actively promoting several projects to create museums and tourist centers in such Tomsk suburbs as Toyanov Gorod (Toyan’s Town) in the Timiryazevskoye village and Sinii Utyos (Blue Cliff). The archaeological sites of Toyanov Gorod are historically connected with the establishment of Tomsk. The site still operates a forest museum, has many natural wonders, and has a health resort. The infrastructure of the place is located near two strategic roads connecting Central Russia with Eastern regions, thus allowing it to develop as a multifunctional tourist complex.

The development of Sinii Utyos (Blue Cliff) located in the circle of ancient Siberian villages Yarskoye, Vershinino, Baturino, Kazanka, and Spasskoye means not only further development of the existing Sinii Utyos sanatorium and some others but also the realization of a project for the development of a museum of wooden architecture, support local enterprises, manufacturing traditional souvenirs from wood and birch skin, tourists camps and etc.

Another new project the Siberian Route will bring about the integration of Tomsk with other old Siberian cities into a tourist route along the ancient Tea Route linking China and India with Europe (Tomsk was historically one of the main cities on it). The further implementation of the project will allow tourists to visit all of the cities for a short period of time.

Other Factors Influencing Development of Tourism in the Tomsk Oblast

Novosibirsk

The neighboring larger city, Novosibirsk, has a large impact on the tourism market in the Tomsk Oblast. Novosibirsk has the highest concentration of tour operators in Siberia. There is simultaneously both fierce competition and cooperation between Tomsk and Novosibirsk companies. They particularly cooperate in the organization of charter flights to Turkey, Cypress, Czech Republic and some other popular destinations out of the Novosibirsk International Airport Tolmachovo. This positive cooperation can be extended toward the development of different types of tourism using resources in the Tomsk Oblast. Particularly for international tourism with Transsib (tourism along Trans-Siberian Railway) it may be possible for companies to resume servicing specialized ski tourist trains from Novosibirsk at the Bogashovo Railway Station (30 km from Tomsk), which was competitive with a similar railway station in Gornaya Shoria (Mountain Shoria). There are also opportunities for the organization of river cruises along the Ob’ and Tom’ rivers during summer. Tomsk tourism companies always participate in the specialized international trade fair Tursib hosted annually in Novosibirsk. In addition, the international airport Tolmachyovo near Novosibirsk is actively used by not only tourists but also by many other sorts of passengers from Tomsk as a transport junction for a wide range of flights. In addition, Novosibirsk is located at the largest rail, water and automobile crossroad. The last factor also favors development of tourism in the nearby Tomsk Oblast.

Transportation

Tomsk can easily be accessed either via Novosibirsk’s international airport Tolmachovo and a 250 km (or approximately four-hour) ride by taxi or bus or by daily four-hour flights on Sibir’ airlines from Moscow’s Vnukovo airport to Tomsk’s Bogashovo airport. Relatively developed inter- (with Kemerovo and Novosibirsk Oblasts, Altai and Krasnoyarsk Krais) and intra- regional bus routes, river transportation within the Oblast, Taiga-Tomsk-Asino-Belii Yar railway, connecting the city with the Trans–Siberian Railway, and air routes to and from the airports in Tomsk, Kolpashevo, and Strezhevoi are also favorable factors.

Telecommunications (for more information on the telecom industry in Tomsk, please see the following BISNIS document: http://bisnis.doc.gov/bisnis/isa/010507tomsktele.htm)

Tomsk’s telecommunications services (many rate them among the best in Russia) could be considered favorable for the development of tourism in Tomsk. There is a pretty good chance one won’t get lost while visiting the Oblast.

Natural Hazards

The natural dangers that a tourist may face in Tomsk are minimal. Earthquakes, tornadoes, and hurricanes are very unlikely. There is however, some danger of being bitten by an encephalitis carrying tick in May and June. The level of atmospheric pollution in Tomsk by industrial wastes is considerably less than in other large Russian cities, particularly in Novosibirsk, Kemerovo, Barnaul, Irkutsk, Omsk, Krasnoyask – other neighboring Siberian cities. Although the pollution in the Tom river by industrial waste from enterprises in the Kemerovo Oblast is high, Tomsk is supplied by water from underground sources and this definitely diminishes the impact of the pollution over human health. Officials and also managers still tend to say that industrial wastes (radioactive aerosols and gases) of Siberian Chemical Plants are not dangerous to the population. They also refer to statements made by the Russian Ministry of Health Care regarding this issue. They add that the accident rate of reactors there is the same as of research reactors in Moscow.

International Events

After a long period as a closed Russian city, Tomsk has started hosting more and more different international events such as fairs, conferences and seminars dedicated to different aspects as business, politics, science, and culture. Taking into account the high concentration of scientific and educational institutions in Tomsk (for more information on this, please see the following BISNIS document: http://bisnis.doc.gov/bisnis/country/010206tomsktech.htm) there might be opportunities for the development of tourism associated with educational and training programs. Scientific and educational exchanges, alumni gatherings, etc. could also be a part of the tourism industry.

Sports

The Oblast also has some grounds for the development of sports tourism. Long winters and stable temperatures during this time make it a location well suited for different winter sports. Several Olympic champions came from Tomsk. There is some infrastructure in place for cross-country skiing, downhill skiing, swimming, and other athletics. The facilities are capable of serving large sporting events or massive tourist flows. These facilities, however were very long time ago and the properties have become run down. Nevertheless, one of the best sports complex in the Oblast was completely built by a U.S. company in Strezhevoi (north of the Oblast) recently – in 1997. The main problem, as with many other potential types of tourism, (e.g. educational) is the inability of local managers to commercialize the process, and to offer good obvious services at fair prices in order to make it self-sustainable.

All of these are favorable factors for the development of tourism and in the Tomsk Oblast. However, some obstacles also lie ahead

Infrastructure

The main obstacle hindering the intensive development of tourism especially for foreigners is poorly developed infrastructure, that does not meet world requirements for service. This includes airports, hotels, auto transport, service personnel, and entertainment industry.

There are six hotels with the capacity to accommodate about 1,000 guests, a wide assortment of restaurants, cafes, nightclubs, discotheques and other places of entertainment in the city. But almost all of them are simply the same as in many other Russian cities, i.e. they only offer basic services.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR U.S. COMPANIES

The best and most immediate opportunities for U.S. companies is to somehow participate in development of the necessary infrastructure for the development of tourism to the Tomsk Oblast. For instance, the Oblast Administration widely announced in mass media its plans to build a four-star hotel in the city by 2004. They say that they already negotiate with some Yugoslavian companies on investment and implementation of this project. The best point of contact in this regard is Mr. Alexander Nikolaevich Cherevko, Head of the representative office of the Administration of Tomsk Oblast at the Government of the Russian Federation. He actively supports this project. Moreover, as it was mentioned above, a U.S. company has already built and fully equipped a relatively large sports complex in Strezhevoi (north of the Oblast).

There also might be some opportunities in the professional organization of skiing, eco- hunting and other types of tourism.