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DOI: 10.18413/2408-9346-2016-2-3-33-37

FOLK CRAFTS AS AN INNOVATIVE FACTOR OF TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN THE REGION (USING AN EXAMPLE

Abstract

In the modern conditions of globalization and the ambiguity of the national identity of countries, one can see an increasing interest in the cultural material and non-material heritage. This is primarily due to the fact that Russian regions are experiencing an adverse period in the development caused by external sanctions. It has led to the fact that tourists are now seeking opportunities for recreation on the territory of Russia. And in this case, folk artistic crafts can be a factor in attraction of the tourist flow in any of the regions of Russia. Folk artistic crafts are a recognized part of the national culture. Voronezh region is a perspective region for the development of a variety of types of tourism: cultural, educational, medical and health, business, event, ecological, rural and agro-tourism, etc. The relevance of the study of folk artistic crafts in order to develop a tourist industry is predetermined by the need to develop the regional competitive tourist industry, as well as to achieve the target values of indicators of implementation of the Strategy of development of Voronezh region up to 2020, in which tourism is one of the basic sectors of the economy. Therefore, the development of folk artistic crafts, strengthening their role in the socio-economic development of the region, stimulating economic activity of small and medium-sized enterprises, creating favorable conditions for the development of tourism, will contribute to the effective socio-economic growth of the region and attract tourists to Voronezh region


Introduction. In the XXI c., tourism became a significant socio-economic phenomenon and had an essential influence on the global world and the economics of the countries and regions. The tourist flow reaches 630 mln trips. Tourism became the most profitable and high-yielding industry. Judging by the effectiveness of the investments, it can be compared to the motor industry and oil and the gas extraction and processing industry. The modern researches in tourism show the necessity to create the tourism product taking into account the consumer interests. The increase in demand for special kinds of tourism or Special Interest Tourism is one of the main trends of developing of the modern tourist industry. A steady increase of this segment can be caused by the fact that nowadays the choice of the destination is more often dictated by the travelers’ individual interests and needs. Trips with traditional destinations – health or cognitive – don’t satisfy the modern person’s needs any longer. Special Interest Tourism on the whole and its separate kinds is becoming a target of research in foreign and Russian literature. But till the present time, there is still a variety of unsolved methodological questions. First of all, this refers to the definition of «Special Interest Tourism» itself, which is mostly used in the foreign researches, whereas in Russian literature it is more common to use the concept «Special Kinds of Tourism». Apparently, they could be treated as almost identical. In 1980, S. E. Read was among the first to use this concept. Then he used a word combination «Special Interest Travel» and meant by that trips with particular destinations. Along with the concept «Special Interest Tourism» the concept «Alternative Tourism» also often appears, which is highlighting its difference from the mass tourism [9]. In general, «Special Interest Tourism» is a type of tourism that includes trips of customers whose choice of holidays depends on motivation, and satisfaction level depends on impressions they have got during the trip [1]. In Russian articles about Special Interest Tourism, the authors also point out the following features: paucity, labour inputs for the final tourist product, capital-output ratio, synthetic approach of the trips formation, and new types of tourism based on unconventional (alternative) sources of funding [2, 3, 8]. Tourist products in this particular case differ in supporting means, management and human resource involved. This can be both individually planed trips for gaining and using first-hand knowledge about local culture and environment and group trips. These group tourists show the great interest for natural and cultural heritage.

Main part. The problem of nonmaterial cultural heritage is topical and at the same time quite complicated. Speaking about nonmaterial cultural heritage we mean by this the soul of the nation, its mentality and identity. It is impossible to see and understand the features of this heritage, and herein lies the complexity of the problem. According to the International Convention of Nonmaterial Cultural Heritage, this is customs, forms, ideas, knowledge and skills, and also connected with them – instruments, objects, artifacts and cultural spaces, admitted by the communities, groups and, in some cases, by individuals in the capacity of the parts of their cultural heritage. Cultural heritage can help to attract the investments to the municipal area and to develop the travel industry. Among the foreign authors’ works we can find some definitions of the category of «nonmaterial cultural heritage». In particular, D. Blake believes that the contrast between concepts «cultural property» and «cultural heritage» is unclear, and in some cases they could be interchanged. However, in reference to the definition of the concept «cultural property» (Hague Convention, 1954), the author confirms that the document «clearly shows that the cultural property is one of the elements of the cultural heritage» [1]. D. Lowenthalconfirmsthat «natural heritage has the global meaning and can’t be disputed. Pure water and natural fuel, tropical forests and genetic pool; they are all our common heritage, and they all need to be done with care. Cultural resources form the same part of the global heritage...» [7]. The main spheres and forms of manifestation of nonmaterial cultural heritage can be the following (fig. 1).

Fig.1. The main spheres and forms of manifestation of nonmaterial cultural heritage

 Рис. 1. Основные сферы и формы проявления нематериального культурного наследия

 

Nonmaterial cultural heritage as a system maintains ethnos’ vitality, forms the worldview, the system of values and guides. National artistic trades are custodians of worldview and artistic traditions. Over the course of history, they soaked up the elements of the Old Russian art, urbicultural traditions of XVII-XX centuries, which let them remain the modern art. And even now artistic craftworks represent developing art, forming an essential part of modern art. Types of national artistic trades popular in Russia are represented in fig. 2.

 

Fig. 2. The typess of national artistic trades popular in Russia [10]

Рис. 2. Виды народных художественных промыслов, популярны, в России [10]

 

Traditional national artistic trades and crafts are usually classified by the material used in production. Hereonthefollowingtypescanbedistinguished:

  • Handicrafts of solid material (wood, birch bark, vine);
  • Pottery, porcelain, faience, glass;
  • Metal, stone, bone;
  • Handicrafts of soft material (spun linen,wool);
  • Handicrafts of animal fur and leather.

At the present time, a proportion of tourism in gross regional product of Voronezh region is less than 1% (as a comparison, the proportion of tourism in gross global product is 3,6%,central European – 6,9%, Russian – 2,5%).

The diagnosis of the socio-economic situation and the condition of tourism in the region enable us elicit the main factors of its development:

  • Economic structure favourable to the intensive growth and providing the sustainable development of the region;
  • Key economical branches – industry, agriculture, building;
  • Depletion of the regional resources leading to the most adverse effects;
  •  

Recognition of tourism as a priority of the regional development;

  • Existence of the territorial inequalities in the tourist market structure;
  • Weak material and technical resources and lack of infrastructural support of tourist sector;
  • Weak information accessibility to the data of the tourist potential;
  • Suppositions for new reformsfor high quality in the tourism sector determined by a focal point of the state and regional policy.

The tourist flow to Voronezh region in 2015 increased by 13% and comprised 450 thousand people. There are 2738 cultural heritage siteson the territory of Voronezh region, 1362 of which are cultural heritage sites of federal significance. In terms of the volume of the cultural heritage sites (2705), Voronezh region occupies the 5th place among the subjects of the Central Federal District of the Russian Federation. Voronezh was always famous for its craftsmen. In the middle of the XIX century, in different villages and towns of the province, the national artistic trades were formed.  At the present time, the following craft types can be distinguished (table 1).

 

Table 1

The types of national artistic trades in Voronezh region

Таблица 1

Виды народных художественных промыслов в Воронежской области

Folk artistic crafts can become a basis for territory marketing, which is gaining more and more traction nowadays. Its main purpose is to raise attractiveness of some particular places for both legal customers (agencies, investors etc.) and individuals (tourists, citizens, workers, etc).

It can be achieved by gradual raising of popularity of domestically assembled merchandise (ex. goods of folk artistic crafts), which would be strongly associated among customers with high quality and prestige value, i.e. regional brands. Availability of such brands guarantees recognizability of the region, demonstration of its advantages and forming a friendly atmosphere around it. Thus, first of all, folk artistic crafts satisfy aesthetic needs and also needs for national and regional identity, enculturation, self-expression etc. Hence, it is necessary to maintain the level of present folk artistic crafts and also handicrafts that are outstanding work of national art. Including folk artistic crafts organisations into the touristic-recreational territories will contribute to developing both the tourism and socioeconomic growth and raising of living standards on the regional territory.

Conclusion. Thus, an analysis of the factors, that influence the folk artistic crafts, shows that this industry problems are solvable if to join the forces of the craftsmen, national artistic trades organisations, central and local authorities. Besides, it is indispensable to get a strong state support that determines the most comfortable conditions for national artistic trades’ development. The main tendencies of folk arts and crafts maximum attraction in order to develop the tourist sector can be classified in the following way:

  • Topush forward the ideas of convergenceof tourism services and crafts among the managers and people who take decisions in the tourism and folk artistic crafts field.
  • To form and develop new places of folk artistic crafts developing and places, where the folk artistic crafts’ сraftsmen already exist and work.
  • To develop new marketing complexes, focused on small infrastructure industry creation (ex. transport restaurants with the folk artistic crafts interior).
  • To create a complex of geo-data resource, such as sites, social networks, print media in order to attract tourists meaning to visit Voronezh region and also local population interested in its history.

These steps don’t require any investments. They will conduce regional tourism movement, monetize less-demanded resources of the local folk artistic crafts producers and another Voronezh region self-employed individuals.

Reference lists

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  2. Douglas, N. and Derret R. Special Interest Tourism, 2001. London: Belhaven Press. URL: http://v5.books.elsevier.com/bookscat/.PDF (Date of access: July 4, 2016).
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