CC BY
31
UDC 911, 332
DOI: 10.24412/1995-0411-2021-3-97-108
Svetlana R. KHUSNUTDINOVA
Kazan Federal University (Kazan, Rep. of Tatarstan, Russia) PhD in Geography, Associate Professor; e-mail: hsvr@yandex.ru
CRUISE TOURISM IN THE REPUBLIC OF TATARSTAN
Abstract. The article examines cruise tourism from the point of view of the possibility of ensuring the recreation and the tourism development in the urban environment and city agglomeration. The foreign experience in the organization of river cruises is briefly reviewed. The article demonstrates significant potential of the hydrographic network of Volga Federal District in general, as well as city agglomerations of the Republic of Tatarstan in particular. The period of the pandemic showed the demand among people for short trips along rivers and lakes within the city, city agglomeration and region. However, such voyages tend to be out of the question for water cruises. The article proposes and defines the term "mini cruise" to refer to travel less than 24 hours. The role of mini-cruises in local socio-economic life is shown. The Republic of Tatarstan has all the necessary factors to expand the range of river cruises, incl. mini-cruises: a wide range of natural factors, incl. an extensive hydrographic network; interesting coastal areas, different historical, cultural and modern objects and events, intangible heritage; a historically established shipbuilding industry that includes large industrial enterprises, small businesses and craft initiatives. Further study of the potential of mini-cruises and their inclusion in the orbit of cruise tourism will help to solve issues in meeting the recreational needs of people and in creating new tourism products, and, therefore, developing the local economy.
Keywords: cruise tourism, river cruises, city tourism, agglomeration tourism, city agglomeration
Citation: Khusnutdinova, S. R. (2021). Cruise tourism in the Republic of Tatarstan. Service and Tourism: Current Challenges, 15(3), 97-108. doi: 10.24412/1995-0411-2021-3-97-108. Article History Disclosure statement
Received 6 September 2021 No potential conflict of interest was reported by
Accepted 21 September 2021 the author(s).
© 2021 the Author(s)
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0). To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons. org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
УДК 911, 332
DOI: 10.24412/1995-0411-2021-3-97-108
ХУСНУТДИНОВА Светлана Рустемовна
Казанский федеральный университет (Казань, Респ. Татарстан, РФ) кандидат географических наук, доцент; e-mail: hsvr@yandex.ru
КРУИЗНЫЙ ТУРИЗМ В РЕСПУБЛИКЕ ТАТАРСТАН
В статье рассматривается круизный туризм с точки зрения возможности обеспечения рекреации людей и развития туризма в условиях городской среды и городской агломерации. Кратко рассмотрен зарубежный опыт в организации речных круизов. Показан значительный потенциал гидрографической сети Приволжского Федерального округа в целом, а также городских агломераций Республики Татарстан в частности. Период пандемии показал востребованность у людей коротких путешествий по рекам и озерам в пределах города, агломерации и региона. Однако, такие путешествия, как правило, выпадают из рассмотрения водных круизов. В статье предложен и определен термин «миникруиз» для обозначения путешествий менее, чем на 24 часа. Показана роль миникруизов в местной социально-экономической жизни. Республика Татарстан обладает всеми необходимыми факторами расширения спектра речных круизов, в т.ч. миникруизов: широкий спектр природных факторов, в т.ч. разветвленная гидрографическая сеть; интересные прибрежные территории, насыщенные историко-культурными и современными объектами и событиями, богатым нематериальным наследием; исторически сложившаяся судостроительная отрасль, включающая крупные промышленные предприятия, малые предприятия и ремесленические инициативы. Дальнейшее изучение потенциала миникруизов и включение их в орбиту круизного туризма поможет решить вопросы в обеспечении рекреационных потребностей людей и в создании новых туристских продуктов, а, значит, развитии местной экономики.
Ключевые слова: речной круиз, миникруиз, агломерационный туризм, рекреация, туризм, городская агломерация
Для цитирования: Хуснутдинова С.Р. Круизный туризм в Республике Татарстан // Современные проблемы сервиса и туризма. 2021. Т.15. №3. С. 97-108. DOI: 10.24412/1995-0411-2021-3-97-108.
Дата поступления в редакцию: 6 сентября 2021 г. Дата утверждения в печать: 21 сентября 2021 г.
Introduction
Cruise tourism two years ago was carried out at three territorial levels: oceanic intercontinental travel, incl. round the world; sea travel with visits to major ports and cities; river travel also with calls to river ports and excursions to settlements of coastal importance. All three types of travel attracted tourists incl. the opportunity to visit several countries, cities and objects in one cruise.
Obviously, the most significant type in terms of area coverage - oceanic - first of all suffered from restrictions related to movement between countries during the 2020 pandemic and practically stopped. River cruises focused on inland waters, for example, travel along the Volga and Kama, in this sense, turned out to be in a better position.
Cruise tourism on rivers is also of interest to countries such as Spain and Portugal, which have long sea and / or oceanic borders. River tourism allows you to unleash the potential of the inland territories - to acquaint tourists with nature, culture, art, gastronomy, offer water activities and thereby enhance the diversity of the tourist offer and stimulate the development of the local economy on the banks of rivers [8].
Researchers on river cruises on the Danube draw attention to the importance of niche tourism in organizing river travel. The Danube, as the most important water transport artery in Europe, is one of the most attractive rivers for cruises. Studies of Danube cruises provide a rather detailed description of the factors influencing the development of river cruises - from the technical indicators of ships to the geographical location of ports [10, 11].
Europe and its river cruise market has been leading in the world and has demonstrated the growth of this tourism industry due to its rich historical heritage and geographical location of the Danube and other rivers [9, 12-14]. Scientific publications on the topic of river cruises in Europe contain consideration of various aspects - case-study, analysis of tourism offer and demand, current trends, incentives and limiting factors for future development of river cruises, challenges of the river cruise industry, destination management study, marketing, incl. aspects such
as the study of the age structure of consumers [6, 7, 15, 16].
The role of geographical location and taking into account the individual characteristics of the territory when using international marketing strategies is necessary to revitalize the local economy and offer a unique tourism product, as shown, for example, by the experience of China and its cruise river project "Three Gorges" [17].
Results and Discussions
The Republic of Tatarstan is a geographically unique region, on the territory of which flow the most important navigable rivers of the densely populated Volga Federal District - the Volga and Kama, and the Kuibyshev reservoir is located at their confluence. It is on the territory of Tatarstan that the waterway merges from the western part of Russia along the Volga and from the eastern part along the Kama. And the common waterway heads towards the south of the country. The Kuibyshev reservoir is the largest in Eurasia, and more than half of its area falls on the Republic of Tatarstan (about 51%), its width in the Kamsky Ustye region reaches 45 km. From the shores, the reservoir looks endless and therefore the toponym "Kama Sea" has been fixed here. The view panoramas of the river space amaze with their spaciousness and beauty and are a place of attraction for vacationers.
The Republic of Tatarstan is part of the Volga Federal District and is one of the highly urbanized regions of the country. The Volga Federal District is the leader among the federal districts in terms of the number of cities with a population of one million. These are regional capitals - Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Perm, Samara and Ufa. Three cities stand on the banks of the Volga River - Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Samara. Perm on the banks of the Kama River, and Ufa on the Belaya River - the largest tributary of the Kama River. This short geographical excursion allows us to assess how important river cruise tourism can become for the economy of the entire district, based only on the location of the largest cities on the most important rivers. Of course, cruise river trips along these rivers are offered by tourist operators already now and occupy the lion's share of the market and are in great
demand.1 2 Moreover, river tourist cruises are still practically the only water connection between major cities, because passenger traffic along the rivers between the regions has not yet been restored after the decline of the river fleet of the 90s.
Unfortunately, so far the number of cruise river vessels in Russia is in third place and is (for 2018) 121 ships, in the first place is the European Union (359 ships), in the second - travel along the Nile (280 ships) [10]. The domestic river fleet is characterized by rather worn-out and outdated river vessels, however, the release of new modern ships gives hope.
2019 can be called a turning point in the history of modern production of ships for river travel and transport. For the first time after the collapse of the USSR, in August 2019 the hydrofoil vessels "Valdai 45R" went on a voyage and began to cruise along the rivers of the Nizhny Novgorod region, the first such vessel was launched in the fall of 2017 in the Chkalovsky district of the region 3. The most important and unique event for the modern history of domestic shipbuilding and the development of cruise tourism was the launch of the comfortable four-deck liner "Mustai Karim" in September 2019, designed by the Moscow Engineering Bureau and built in Nizhny Novgorod at the "Krasnoye Sormovo" shipyard4.
2020 brought new challenges - a pandemic and the need for isolation, which dramatically affected external tourism, however, pushed to the need to actively seek options for recreation and tourism in the immediate vicinity of the place of residence. It was this situation that made it possible to see the untapped potential of short travel time and distance along rivers and lakes. It turned out that not so many opportunities remained for
1 "Vodokhod": cruises and travel". URL: https:// vodohod.com/cruises/.
2 "Infoflot: cruise center". URL: https://www. infoflot.com/info/regions/kruizy-iz-moscvy-po-volge-kame-beloj/.
3 "Valdai 45R": a hydrofoil vessel that revived the high-speed fleet of the region // Strategy for the development of the Nizhny Novgorod region. URL: https://strategy.government-nnov.ru/ru-RU/ longread/valday.
4 Motor ship "Mustai Karim". URL: https://vodo-
hod.com/ships/mustai-karim/.
traveling by small water modes of transport along the rivers of the cities themselves, their agglomerations and neighboring regions.
Research interest is the question of identifying factors affecting the organization of such cruises, as well as what are their advantages for the tourism sector and the economy. To understand the questions raised, it is important to define the terminology of cruise tourism.
In the scientific literature, a cruise is understood as "a journey on a specialized passenger (cruise) ship across the ocean, sea, lake or river, calling at ports where tourists see the sights, and from where they make excursions to the interior regions of the country. A cruise route most often starts and ends at the same port, although there are also unidirectional linear routes. Cruise transport - transportation of tourists by cruise ships along certain routes connecting tourism centers, resorts. The cruise ship sails at night; in the daytime, passengers are on excursions (on land), the ship's crew replenishes supplies of fresh water and food " [4, p.119]. Also, S.A. Tarkhov calls the most popular cruises lasting 6-8 days, and the average cruise duration is 6-14 days, round-the-world cruises with calls at 35-45 ports up to 110 days.
According to GOST R 56221-2014 "Tourist services. River cruises"5 cruise -"movement (travel) of a tourist through the water on a cruise ship, along a designated route for excursion and educational, leisure and recreational, health, professional and business, research-expeditionary and other purposes", and a river cruise "movement (travel) of a tourist along water area, which is not a sea (ocean), on a river cruise ship".
The same document divides river cruises into groups according to the following classification criteria:
1) the purpose of the cruises,
2) the level of comfort of cruise ships.
A cruise ship includes "a self-propelled floating structure built and equipped for the carriage of passengers, which is a collective specialized accommodation facility"5.
5 Russian National Standard GOST R 56221-2014 "Tourism services. River cruises. General requirements"
Despite the fact that in the very definition of a cruise there is no indication of any temporary classifications or restrictions, the subsequent classification of cruises by the duration of the stay of tourists, in fact, rejects the options for short-term travel by water from consideration, because the standard divides cruises into "short-term (lasting from more than 24 hours to five days), medium-term (from 10 to 14 days), long-term (more than 14 days)"5. Travels less than 24 hours are out of consideration, although they may be of most interest for city breaks, urban and metropolitan tourism. Such trips can be defined as "mini-cruises" - cruises lasting less than 24 hours, performed using a cruise ship and / or light modern means of transportation on water in order to get acquainted with natural and anthropogenic (historical, cultural, industrial, architectural and other) objects, visiting events and acquaintance with intangible culture, enjoying the panoramic views of the coast. Various types of boats, mini-yachts, sup-boards, etc. are understood as "light modern means of moving on water". To make a mini-cruise, you need a service infrastructure - rental of vehicles, more or less equipped stops, etc., as well as attractive landscape panoramas. The created stops for such mini-cruises can become a growth point for local business - the sale of local products, artisan products, souvenirs, jobs for servicing the vehicles themselves, and the sale of related goods - from water and food to pharmacy kiosks. That is why we consider it necessary to state the importance of travel for only a few hours and give them our own definition - "mini-cruises".
Travel within the city agglomeration, along with commuting, forms the spatial organization of the agglomeration, affects the transport infrastructure, communications, the service sector, and the creation of jobs in the agglomeration. At the same time, agglomeration tourism has a positive effect on the preservation of traditions, crafts, the production of agricultural products and souvenirs, the holding of fairs and the organization of local markets, which can be geographically located near the marinas and provide their products to travelers on the water.
As a rule, tourists are accommodated in a large urban center - the core of an agglomeration, which has a variety in price, quality and availability of accommodation facilities, on the one hand. On the other hand, it is the core of the agglomeration that is the largest transport hub. All types and variants of transport links are concentrated here - airports, railway stations, river and / or sea ports, highways. From the core, travelers set off in different directions and with the help of different transport, incl. watercraft, in short-term and one-day or one-hour trips.
River travel matter as an important tourist, excursion and, in general, recreational activity for any agglomeration associated with water, and not only for an city agglomeration that specializes mainly in the tourism industry, i.e. tourist agglomeration. "Tourist agglomerations are distinguished by the highest degree of concentration of objects of the tourism industry, as well as a high density of tourists and sightseers and a high degree of complexity and integration of the tourism industry. They have a significant impact on the surrounding area, modifying its economic structure and social aspects of the life of the population " [1, p.130].
Both for "ordinary" city agglomerations, and for tourist agglomerations located on the banks of rivers and reservoirs, mini-cruises can play a great role. In addition to the already designated role for the local economy and the creation of jobs in servicing mini-cruises and related industries, mini-cruises have advertising and educational value - a person learns for little money and time about the advantages of traveling by water and then makes a decision about a big voyage. In addition, from the point of view of entrepreneurs engaged in tourism, it does not matter at all from a traditional cruise or a mini-cruise, guests purchase goods or services from him, and the afforda-bility of the price and time of mini-cruises can become a noticeable income for economic entities on the banks of rivers.
A mini-cruise is an analogue of an excursion, or rather an excursion using a water transport. Mini-cruises and sightseeing cruises are not the same thing, in our opinion, because a mini-cruise may or may not include a guided tour, i.e. mini-cruises are a broader
concept and are a cruise on water bodies of less than 24 hours duration. In our opinion, it is important to single out mini-cruises as a separate sub-topic of cruise research in order to take into account their impact and role:
1) in the local economy - job creation, incl. self-employed, receiving income to the budget;
2) in meeting the recreational needs of people and expanding opportunities for recreation;
3) in the territorial organization of society, incl. due to the emergence of new facilities (marinas, coastal cafes and shops, etc.) and connections, incl. agglomeration.
On the basis of this accounting, create or recreate the necessary conditions for realizing the potential of mini-cruises: marinas, quay walls, landing stages and waiting pavilions with retail outlets, services, access roads, parking lots, etc., and, therefore, take into account in urban planning practice, in incl. master-plans of cities and towns.
Among domestic cities, the leader of urban mini-cruises is St. Petersburg both in terms of the number and variety of trips. From Nizhny Novgorod there are a number of mini-cruises along the Volga and Oka - to Makaryevo, to Gorodets, to Balakhna, as well as a trip to the Shukhov tower near Dzerzhinsk.
An interesting and very informative 1.5 hour mini-cruise is offered by Nizhny Novgorod to the Shukhov Tower on modern Valdai hydrofoils. The Shukhov Tower is a unique engineering facility. It is the world's only hyperboloid multi-section power line tower in the form of a mesh shell. The tower is a monument of the Russian architectural avant-gar-de6. The journey takes place along the Oka River and does not provide for stopping (navigation in 2021), because while there is no necessary infrastructure of the pier, however, it allows you to get acquainted with a unique object of industrial architecture and observe the beautiful natural banks of the river.
From Kazan along the Volga river, tourist mini-cruises to the cities of Bolgar and Tetyushi are carried out. It is the rivers Volga and Kama that are the most important waterways of the
6 Shukhov tower on the Oka. Official site of the Rosseti company. URL: https://mrsk-cp.ru/press/ special_projects/shukhovskaya-bashnya-na-oke/
two largest republican agglomerations - Kazan and Kama. Rivers have had and continue to have a decisive influence on the formation of the settlement framework. So, the Kazan agglomeration has a linear structure, stretching along the predominantly left and right banks of the Volga. Moreover, the location of Kazan on the low left bank at the confluence of the Ka-zanka River with the Volga River, together with the peculiarities of the transport structure, determines the predominant development and linear elongation of the agglomeration along the left bank of the Volga River. Transport features are associated, firstly, with insufficient development, or rather the decline in the last 30 years of the river fleet: a decrease in the number of ships, their high wear and tear. Such types of ships as "Raketa", which carried out a large number of voyages in different directions from Kazan, simply disappeared from the river traffic. In the navigation of 2021 (summer months) there were only 2 daily voyages from Kazan by high-speed vessels ("Meteor") to Tetyushi and Bolgar, and an additional voyage on weekends to Bulgar, and less than 10 up and down voyages from Kazan on the lines of the displacement fleet (passenger motor ship "Om"), going to the main dacha stops7. Secondly, the presence of the only one (at the moment) bridge over the Volga river in the Kazan agglomeration, located on the M7 highway north of Kazan. However, the situation with road traffic will change with the construction of the M12 federal highway and the construction of a bridge across the Volga river south of Kazan.
It is important to note that river vessels were of great importance not only as a passenger transport for transporting people from work to rest, for example, but were also actively used for mini-cruises or travel near Kazan or other cities, for holidays, events, etc. Perhaps it is river transport, more than any other mode of transport, that so closely embodies both recreational and transport functions at the same time. Passengers not only are on the way from one point to another, but enjoy the trip itself, the views from the water, of course, only if the conditions of the ship are comfortable.
7 Official site of the shipping company "Tatflot". URL: http://sktatflot.ru/services/passengers/trips/
Similarly, the Kama agglomeration is structurally stretched along the Kama River. Its two largest cities, Naberezhnye Chelny and Nizhnekamsk, are located on the left bank of the Kama River, while Elabuga and Men-deleevsk are located on the right. The communication is carried out through the bridge - Nizhnekamsk hydroelectric power station in the city of Naberezhnye Chelny.
In recent years, the issue of the development of the river fleet and as an important player in the tourism, recreation and transport communication market has begun to be discussed more substantively. Considering the difficulties in the restoration and maintenance of both the fleet itself and the piers, stopping sites, the creation of modern-level vessels, they require painstaking work and financial resources, it is difficult to count on a quick result,however, there are already certain successes, for example, the experience of Nizhny Novgorod in mini-cruises on the Valdai ship.
In our opinion, for a successful cruise, two main conditions must be met:
1) interesting and attractive stops and coastal views;
2) quality rest and travel on board a cruise ship.
The ideal cruise is a combination of both. This article examines the advantages and disadvantages of the first of these conditions on the example of the Republic of Tatarstan.
As already mentioned, the republic has significant geographic advantages. The hydrographic network includes both deep rivers and their small tributaries, lakes. The huge area of the Kuibyshev reservoir evokes associations with the sea and, as already mentioned, has become entrenched in the informal toponyms "Kama Sea" and is often used in this way in the speech of residents. Picturesque shores with natural and historical landscapes, panoramic views from the water and from shore to water create a special atmosphere of contemplation and relaxation for travel and recreation. Specially protected natural territories have been created on the banks of the rivers, which allow preserving natural landscapes and their aesthetic appeal.
In addition to the natural component, the coastlines are rich in cultural and historical sites. There are three territories in Tatarstan where UN-
ESCO sites are located and each of them has access to the Volga River and has a wonderful panoramic and "postcard" view - the Kazan Kremlin, the Great Bolgar and the Island-city of Sviyazhsk.
From the walls of the Kazan Kremlin, there are wonderful views of both banks of the Kazanka River, and one of the best views of the right bank of the Volga. Also, from the water - the Kazan Kremlin is an aesthetically attractive object and reveals itself on beautiful panoramic views for travelers along the Volga and Kazanka. The Great Bolgar is located on the left bank of the Volga, and the very name "the island of the city of Sviyazhsk" already implies a message of communication with the river and the island is located at the confluence of the Sviyaga river into the Volga river.
According to information on the results of the development of the tourism industry of the Republic of Tatarstan, provided by the State Committee of the Republic of Tatarstan for Tourism for 2019, the main tourist centers of the republic are cities and objects located on the banks of rivers8:
1) Kazan Kremlin on the Volga river (at the confluence of the Kazanka river);
2) Great Bolgar on the Volga river;
3) Island-town of Sviyazhsk on the Volga river (at the confluence of the Sviyaga river);
4) Elabuga on the Kama river;
5) Chistopol on the Kama river;
6) Tetyushi on the Volga river. Together, these six destinations accounted for nearly 5 million visits in 2019. The leader in absolute terms is the Kazan Kremlin, which was visited by 3.1 million people. However, in relative terms, i.e. the number of visits in relation to the number of local residents the leader with a unique result is the Ostrov-grad Sviyazhsk - the number of visits per year is more than 1000 times higher than the number of residents. Of particular note is the historic small town - Tetyushi. In the six years preceding the pandemic, the city has been very actively developing the tourism industry, focusing on tourists traveling by water and since 2014 has increased the "number of visitors" by 9 times (Table 1).
8 Results of the work of the State Committee for Tourism of the Republic of Tatarstan. Official website of the State Committee for Tourism of the Republic of Tatarstan. URL: https://tourism. tatarstan.ru/documents.htm?pub_id=2245182
Table 1 - Dynamics of the number of visitors to the main tourist centers of the Republic of Tatarstan (thousand people)8
City (Object) \ years 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Kazan Kremlin 1461,2 2107,2 2893,3 2774,1 2928,9 3111,4
Great Bolgar 285,3 349,8 472,0 540,9 510,5 530,3
Ostrov-grad Sviyazhsk 182,2 261,4 418,0 491,3 510,1 663,1
Elabuga 388,3 417,4 467,5 468,1 505,6 506,7
Chistopol 24,7 38,1 46,1 52,2 57,8 61,5
Tetyushi 6,9 15,0 25,4 45,0 55,2 62,2
In general, of the 24 cities of the republic, the overwhelming majority of cities are located on the banks of the most important rivers Volga and Kama, or their tributaries.
In addition to the natural-geographical and cultural-historical unique characteristics that are an important competitive advantage for the development of cruise tourism and all types of water travel in Tatarstan, there are two more important groups of advantages:
- historical and geographical cultural code - the experience of life on the shore, which is succinctly characterized by the concept of "Volgari", the experience of creating river vessels and life based on natural resources associated with water;
- modern production facilities - the creation of ships in Zelenodolsk and Verkhneus-lonsk districts.
From the point of view of historical and geographical factors, it is necessary to say about the Kazan Admiralty, the creation of which is associated with the name of Peter I and the date of its creation is called 1718. The purpose of creating the Kazan Admiralty was the construction, repair and storage of ships, as well as the production of ship parts and components: pins (large oak nails), leather for pumps, processed in a certain way, for which separate objects of the Admiralty were created - Pump plants, the products were then delivered to St. Petersburg. However, even before the creation of the Kazan Admiralty at the mouth of the Kazanka River, the construction of ships was carried out, albeit at the "artisanal level" [2, 3].
During the heyday of shipbuilding - by the end of the 18th century, the total number of employees in the Admiralty exceeded 100 thousand people, and during the history of the
existence of the Kazan Admiralty, about 400 ships of various types were built (bombarding ships, galleys, galleys, whale boats, frigates, corvettes, brigs, brigantines, bots and more)9
The toponym "Admiralteyskaya Slobo-da" has survived in Kazan even now, and the territory of the settlement itself is part of the Historical Settlement of Kazan and is of major historical and cultural significance not only for the city, but for the entire Volga region and the country as a whole.
The traditions of shipbuilding in the region continued already in the Paratsky backwater - currently the satellite city of the Kazan agglomeration - Zelenodolsk. In 1895, the Paratsky ship repair workshops were founded here. Their main purpose is to repair the technical fleet: dredgers and dredgers and auxiliary equipment. Having lived a long and not simple history, the enterprise is still operating - PHC "Zelenodolsk Plant named after A.M. Gorky" and over the years of its activity has produced more than 1,500 marine and river vessels, retains the position of one of the leading shipyards in the country10.
The modern production of premium fiberglass boats Velvette Marine ("Velvette") was launched in the village of Naberezhnye Morkvashi, Verkhneuslonsky district of the Kazan agglomeration in 2007 11.
As stated on the official website of the company: "Slowly but surely Velvette Marine
9 Kazan Admiralty. Encyclopedia of Tatarica. URL: https://tatarica.org/ru/razdely/istoriya/ novoe-vremya/kazanskoe-admiraltejstvo OHnaMH-энцмк^опеflMfl Tatarica.
10 JSC "Zelenodolsk Plant named after A.M. Gorky". History. URL: https://www.zdship.ru/ about/history/.
11 The Velvette Marine company. URL: https:// velvette-marine.com/kontaktyi/about.html
is starting to close the gap that has formed between small and affordable Russian boats and expensive imported boats." The company's success in producing affordable and quality small boats speaks volumes about the demand for water travel.
Currently, the company exports yachts and boats to 11 countries of the world, has a new factory with a workshop area of 3600 sq.m. located on the Federal highway M 7 in Kazan, a developed dealer network throughout the Russian Federation, its own design bureau and a model workshop. And the priorities of the company are very close to the idea of mini-cruise tourism: "Open new horizons for lovers of water recreation and make Velvette boats available to more segments of the population"11-
Interest in shipbuilding in the republic is not only among companies, but also among residents who are keen on the idea of recreating traditional crafts in shipbuilding. In 2021, on the Island-city of Sviyazhsk, the festival of the Volga traditional way of life and crafts "People's Boat" was held. The program of the festival, in addition to the fair of craftsmen, master classes, folk games, performances of the folk theater and folklore groups, competitions, included the launching of an inert plow, which enthusiasts began to build 1.5 years ago. The ship is a large wooden boat - an analogue of those that sailed along the Volga more than 100 years ago. The festival continued with the scientific and practical conference "River Life", which raised questions of the history and modernity of river navigation, incl. folk shipbuilding in the country; rivers as a transport and recreational resource, cultural routes and landscapes, etc. For the first time, the festival "People's Boat" was held in 2019 in cooperation of enthusiasts of the association "Old Volga" (Volga wooden shipbuilding and shipping) and the Museum-Reserve "Os-trov-grad Sviyazhsk"12.
The purpose of the festival, on the one hand, is consonant with the idea of developing cruise tourism, and, on the other hand, its achievement will expand the possibilities of recreation on the water, as well as preserve coastal settlements by creating jobs in
12 Festival "People's Boat". URL: https://www.os-
trovgrad.org/post/^ecTMBa^b-HapoflHaa-^oflKa.
tourism and recreation: "preservation and development traditions and life of the population of coastal territories: everything that is connected with the life of people near the rivers"12.
Historical and geographical factors and production facilities themselves can be a subject of tourist interest - from the history of the Admiralty, folk crafts to create river ships, to industrial tourism with visits to shipyards and repair shops. In addition to those already mentioned above, the subject of interest is a number of objects in the republic, for example, the Kuibyshevsky Zaton village in the Kamsko-Ustinsky district of the republic. The historical name of the village is Spassky Zaton, it was founded in the middle of the 19th century as a repair base of the "Rusalka" steamship society13.
Conserving and improving coastal areas creates additional benefits for a cruise vacation by creating one of the basic conditions for a successful cruise, as mentioned earlier, namely, to diversify and make interesting and attractive stops and coastal views.
In this regard, the importance of the "Program for the Development of Public Spaces of the Republic of Tatarstan", which has been carried out in the republic for more than five years, should be emphasized. The goal of the program is not only the improvement of parks, squares, embankments, beaches, but also filling them with activities, bright events. Holding holidays and events in parks and on the embankments is the most important factor in attracting tourists and recreants and generating a flow of repeat visits. At the first visit, the object itself attracts - its appearance, capabilities, panoramas, etc. Subsequent visits take place both for the purpose of an ordinary walk - the desire to be in nature, and for the purpose of attending an event, festival, etc. The designers are faced with a very serious task - to maintain a balance between the natural content of the park or the embankment, thereby providing the opportunity for the citizens to be in conditions close to the natural environment, which is essential for the well-being and quality of human life. And
13 Kuibyshevsky zaton. Tatar encyclopedia. URL: http://www.ite.antat.ru/articles/punkt_k/k_357. html.
filling objects with events, festivals, festive and sports events, which is also interesting for both citizens and tourists. It is important that the program is actively covered in social networks and has its own pages in those digital resources where a potential audience of travelers can get acquainted and plan a trip. The official page of the program introduces the existing projects and those planned for implementation14.
One of the most large-scale and ambitious urban projects within the framework of the "Program for the Development of Public Spaces of the Republic of Tatarstan" is the development of the Development Strategy for Kazanka: from the Blue Lakes to the Volga, which includes 12 coastal theme parks. The mission of the project is to create "Russia's largest ecosystem of coastal parks, which will become an economic and educational resource for the sustainable development of Kazanka"15.
The length of the Kazanka River within the city of Kazan is 22 km. Along its length, it is planned to create new and improve the existing 150 km of hiking trails. Currently, every second citizen of Kazan - a city with a population of 1.27 million people - lives within a quarter of an hour of walking for the river, but so far only a tenth of the coastal territory is available for walking and recreation15. Implementation of the Strategy of the Kazanka River will allow finding a balance between preserving and creating areas for recreation associated with visiting purely natural areas and facilities for sports, festive and other events.
The creation of 12 theme parks on the banks of the river is becoming the most important incentive for the development of mini-road recreation in the city limits due, firstly, to the variety of stops and their filling with attractive objects, events, etc., and secondly, due to the variety of urban panoramas opening from water. Given the nature of the river flow and the location inside the city, we are talking about small ships - yachts, boats. Although historically the Kazanka River was a
14 Program for the development of public spaces of the Republic of Tatarstan. URL: http://park.tatar.
15 Official site of the project "Development Strat-
egy of Kazanka from the Blue Lakes to the Volga". URL: https://kazanka.tatar.
transport artery and a river tram ran along it, it is possible that this type of urban transport can be resumed provided that the necessary infrastructure is created on the shore.
The combination of the use of river transport within the city as an urban transport and a mini-cruise has been preserved in some cities and, in our opinion, is still underestimated in terms of the potential for the diversity of the tourist product by cities. For example, the motor ship "Moskva" runs on the intracity line to Yaroslavl from the river station in the city center to the Svyato-Vvedensky Tolgsky nunnery, and is actively used by both townspeople and tourists, but, unfortunately, so far there are only 5 trips a day16.
It should also be noted with regret that passenger transportation by river transport between cities on the banks of the Volga and Kama has practically disappeared, only tourist cruises have survived. The situation is similar in small aviation, which was actively used in intraregional passenger transportation in the USSR, and now performs either service functions (Ministry of Emergency Situations, medicine, etc.), or recreational - flying as an "attraction", but not passenger transport. The creation of a cable car in the Nizhny Novgorod region is an excellent example of a combination of intra-agglomeration passenger transport and a tourist facility. In less than 15 minutes you can get from the central part of Nizhny Novgorod to the satellite town of Bor, while enjoying the picturesque views of the river and coastal areas.
The trend of the last 2-3 years is travel on light water vehicles, the control of which is subject to almost any person, for example, sup-boards. Unlike traditional rafting on catamarans, kayaks, etc., which require special equipment, clothing and watercraft, as well as making certain requirements for water bodies - mountain or forest rivers, i.e. special preparation time, sup-boards are used actively inside the urban space - on lakes, city canals, canals and does not require any special skills or clothing. Due to their simplicity and proximity to the citizens, they are used for everyday recreation. Lake "Kaban" in the center of Kazan for the second season has be-
16 Yaroslavsky river station. URL: http://yarport.
com/uslugi/passazhirskie-perevozki.php.
come a place for such recreation of citizens and guests, when you just need to come to the lake and you can already take a pleasant walk. Sup trips are carried out both along calm rivers and outside the city and they can be called "micro-cruises", i.e. water travel between neighboring municipalities along the river. Such "micro-cruises" are carried out along the Kazanka river from the Vysokogor-sky district of the Republic of Tatarstan to the city of Kazan.
A clear advantage of mini-cruises is their affordability for a wide range of consumers, in contrast to classic cruises. It is the high cost of river cruises that is called the reason for the decrease in tourist flows17.
Conclusion
Cruise tourism, like other types of tourism, is constantly changing and reflects both the changing interests and needs of travelers, as well as modern opportunities and technologies of water transportation. To preserve traditional sea and river cruises, a number of important requirements external to the cruise itself must be observed: 1) the borders between countries and regions of the world should be as transparent as possible; 2) it is necessary to maintain the expensive and high-tech infrastructure of sea and river ports in proper condition, as well as the cruise vehicles themselves; 3) there should be stops and coastal panoramas full of interesting objects and events.
The Republic of Tatarstan has all the necessary factors to expand the range of river cruises: 1) a wide range of natural factors, incl. an extensive hydrographic network; 2) interesting coastal areas, rich in historical, cultural and modern objects and events, rich in intangible heritage [5]; 3) a historically established shipbuilding industry, including large industrial enterprises, small enterprises and craft initiatives.
The years 2020-2021 have shown that waterways can play a huge role in organizing short-term walks and "mini-cruises" within the city, within the agglomeration, between cities and neighboring areas. Such crises are very important for meeting the recreational needs of people, especially in times as difficult as a pandemic. Mini-cruises are affordable, in terms of time, distance from the place of residence and at the same time help relieve stress, change the environment, look at familiar places from a different angle, using various modern water vehicles from the "Valdai" hydrofoil to the ship hovercraft and sup-boards. In general, it can be stated that the potential of travel by water is far from being exhausted and underestimated, and close attention to small travel by water and the study of the potential of mini-cruises can solve issues both in meeting the recreational needs of people and in creating new tourist products, which means stimulating the local economy.
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