The Development Of Ecotourism In Russia Using Modern Information And Telecommunication Technologies

Abstract

The relevance of the study is due to the interest of modern science in the field of tourism in relation to the problems of the study of ecotourism in Russia and its development in our country. The purpose of the study of modern information and telecommunication technologies and their application in the development of ecotourism in Russia is to create a new tourist product on the market of the tourism industry, which will make it possible to reduce the anthropogenic impact on the nature of Russia, as well as to attract as many domestic and foreign tourists to the study of ecologically clean protected natural places in Russia, thereby promoting Russia to a higher stage of development of the tourism industry. Based on the results of the statistical analysis, authors were able to develop recommendations for combining eco-tourism and virtual tourism, as well as to identify ways to promote this idea, and, ultimately, to develop recommendations for the creation of a virtual ecological tour with subsequent calculations of the costs of this tourism product and the profits from the implementation of this project.

Keywords: Ecological tourismtourist industryinformation and telecommunication technologiessustainable developmentspecially protected natural territoriessocially responsible tourism

Introduction

The problem of ecology in many places of our planet forces many people to think about their own future and the future of our planet. In the scientific literature, this problem has been studied in various scientific articles of journals, in teaching AIDS, and is studied to this day, in view of the annual world changes that require more and more new statistics and views to develop modern solutions to this problem. It is because of the negative anthropogenic impact on nature that climate change, natural disasters occur, in connection with which a huge number of people die, biodiversity is disturbed, many species of plants and animals die out, natural resources are exhausted, and economic instability occurs – in General, the balance between people and nature is disturbed (Arsen'yeva et al., 2005; Babkin, 2008; Ceballos, 1984, 1993; Cugina, 2018).

It is a well-known fact that the progress of innovative technologies is happening all over the world, and every year we are surrounded by more and more new inventions, there is an era of modernization in everything. Also, it is no secret that among the innovation clusters in the first place are innovations related to energy and the environment.

Eco-tourism is gaining momentum every day in various countries around the world, attracting an increasing number of travelers calling to relax in harmony with pure nature, while taking care of her and not causing harm to any negative anthropogenic influence. That is why it is necessary to create innovations that contribute to the protection of nature, unloading it from the growing tourist flows, while helping people who want to travel, but cannot afford it due to various reasons. The creation of a new tourism product in the tourism market that meets the needs of both nature and consumers will bring the Russian economy to a higher level and form a good financial support for the country (Dyachenko et al., 2015; Grabovenko, 2003).

Methodology

The object of the study: ecotourism in Russia.

Subject of research: information and telecommunication technologies used in the development of ecotourism.

The purpose of the study: to develop recommendations for the effective use of information and telecommunications tools that contribute to the development of this type of tourism.

Tasks:

1) consider the historical image of ecotourism in Russia;

2) to reveal the theoretical basis of modern information and telecommunication technologies in the tourism industry;

3) to characterize and conduct a comparative analysis of the main areas of ecotourism in Russia;

4) to review the potential audience of visits to eco-tourist areas using information and telecommunication technologies;

5) develop recommendations on the effective use of these technologies in the field of ecotourism.

Materials for research: the study of ecotourism and its development began in the early 20th century, experts in various fields: from geographers and biologists to psychologists and lawyers, and this problem is reflected in the scientific works of authors such as Bochkareva T. V., Mazurov Yu. L. (Mazurov, 2004), Pieces of as, Panov I. N., Moraleva N. V., Sorokina G. A., Arsenyeva E. I., Drozdov V. A., Feoktistova N. V., Eitingon A. I., Khrabovchenko V. V. (Grabovenko, 2003), Chizhova V. P. (Ivanov & Chizhova, 2003), Zorin I. V. and Kvartalnov V. A. (Grabovenko, 2003), and many others. Among foreign experts, the phenomenon of ecotourism was considered by the following authors: K. Lindberg (Lindberg & Hawking, 1993), D. Kramer, D. McLaren, P Wight, K. Dial, G. Wallace, I. Mose, P. Valentine, N. Ward, P. Hasslacher, K-H. Rochlitz, W. Strasdas, D. Western and others. The mentioned authors from foreign countries were representatives of 4 scientific schools in the consideration of approaches to ecotourism: Mexican, American, German and Australian.

Method of research:

1) theoretical – analysis, synthesis, classification of theoretical material, historical method;

2) empirical – comparative analysis of statistical data.

The theoretical significance lies in the generalization of theoretical and practical knowledge about the problem of ecotourism development in Russia, as well as for all people who want to travel to the most beautiful natural places, getting emotional recovery and, as a result, physical recovery. And also in the consideration of the progress of modern information and telecommunication technologies and their application for the development of ecological tourism in our country.

The practical significance lies in the possibility of using the obtained data of the study and subsequent recommendations in the work of workers in the tourism industry, in the economic sector, in the pedagogical and medical fields, workers for the protection of nature and the environment, for the scientific sphere and for many other industries as a guide and reference material for further innovative developments.

Results

Based on the empirical study of ecological tourism in Russia and in the world, as well as the consideration of innovations in the tourism industry, we can draw the following conclusions:

1) in order to develop ecotourism in Russia, it is necessary to create innovations and implement them, based on the public demand, the indicator of the effectiveness of innovations, as well as the presence of external externalities, so that in the economic market these innovations represent an environmental and economic benefit that will guarantee success;

2) in Russia, there is a very low stimulation of demand for environmental innovation, due to savings in production costs, lack of funding, as well as the lack of interest of public policy in the provision of tax or credit benefits;

3) the main innovation in ecotourism, we will consider the creation and development of virtual tourism, using the components of modern information and telecommunication technologies, one of the goals of which is the remote transfer of information to the opponent;

4) Russia's environmental costs are rising every year, but the smallest contribution for 2017 was from the public sector;

5) Russian investments in the tourism industry are carried out by 40% with the help of budget allocations and by 60% with the help of attracting other forces, for example, rent by tourists for entering or living in specially protected natural areas (SPNA) , charging fines for illegal hunting or fishing, etc.;

6) due to insufficient financing of tourism and ecological tourism in Russia, the country is not able to accept a large number of foreign tourists. Also, the reasons for the weak competitiveness in tourism are underdeveloped infrastructure of protected areas, ill-considered transport accessibility and lack of thought-out ways to move tourists within the protected areas;

7) investing in such innovation as virtual tourism can be an additional branch of profit, which will go to: financial support of protected areas and their development, to pay for nature protection services, to create and develop a sound infrastructure, so that the quality of tourist services will increase;

8) the way to attract foreign tourists will also be to create a tourist brand of our country.

It should also be noted:

1) on the territory of Russia is 13295 existing protected areas, including protected areas of Federal significance 119 sanctuaries and 56 national parks as of April 2018, which increased the number of eco-trails, visitor centres and museums in 4-5 times in comparison with 2001, and received about 7 million it ecotourists at the Federal level;

2) since Russia takes the 4th place in the number of natural objects (16) included in the UNESCO world heritage list, during the comparative analysis of 11 objects, 3 priority directions for the implementation of virtual tourism on their basis on their territories were chosen: lake Baikal, Volcanoes of Kamchatka and the Golden mountains of Altai;

3) the most visited destination among all tourists and profitable in terms of revenue is Europe, but it can compete in terms of profit and with a lower volume of visits to North and South America, where, for example, the national protected areas of the United States are visited by more than 330 million people, and this exceeds Russian indicators;

4) in order to raise the level of development of ecotourism in Russia and increase the tourist flow, it is necessary to invest innovations, in particular, virtual ecotourism, which will be a strong financial support for protected areas, and then it will be possible to modernize the infrastructure and pay for environmental services, thereby causing greater interest in visiting protected areas of Russia from domestic tourists and foreign.

Discussion

As part of the discussion, we will consider the formation of a recommendation base for the development of virtual ecotourism.

Conclusion

In the course of this work were studied the General characteristics of ecological tourism and its species and properties, especially protected natural areas and their categories (SPNA), as well as identified the origins of ecological tourism, considered theoretical approaches to the term and its definition by domestic and foreign specialists of various profiles. Was also highlighted the main principles of ecological tourism, which are the basis of all points of view on ecotourism. Also, modern information and telecommunication technologies used in the tourism industry, the concept of innovation in ecotourism and tourism in General were considered, where, mainly, definitions and representations of domestic and foreign specialists about virtual tourism, its capabilities and the degree of development at the present stage were given. We have analyzed the current state of all protected areas in Russia, given the statistics of the number of all protected areas in Russia, the report for 2017 – "Year of ecology": completed and unfulfilled tasks in accordance with the developed state plan for the development of protected areas. The socio-economic prerequisites for the development of ecotourism in Russia were listed, as well as the analysis of the dynamics of attendance of Federal protected areas of Russia by tourists in the period from 2001 to 2017 and 2018. The number and diversity of ecological trails and routes, the presence of visit centers and museums in Federal protected areas and national parks were considered. As a result of the analysis, it was possible to identify the most popular and suitable ecological places included in the UNESCO world heritage list, on the basis of protected areas which it will be possible to create a virtual ecological tour. We highlighted, as an example, the indicators of attendance and profit from visits to protected areas in foreign countries and conducted a comparative analysis of these indicators with Russian ones. Among other things, it was possible to identify the economic prerequisites for the formation of environmental innovation in Russia and create a classification of citizens who can easily approach a new way of traveling. Then, by providing statistics on the costs of environmental protection and identifying the main sector (commercial) that carries out these costs, we were able to identify the main obstacles in the development of ecological tourism in Russia, and subsequently – ways to solve these problems. Finally, based on the results of the statistical analysis, we were able to develop recommendations for combining eco-tourism and virtual tourism, as well as to identify ways to promote this idea, and, ultimately, to develop recommendations for the creation of a virtual ecological tour with subsequent calculations of the costs of this tourism product and the profits from the implementation of this project.

Thus, the objectives of the study were fulfilled.

The content of this work corresponds to the goal. We were able to develop recommendations for the effective use of modern information and telecommunication means, in particular, virtual reality and mixed reality technologies, for the development of virtual ecological tourism, which will be able to have a positive impact on the development of ecotourism in Russia as a whole.

The topic of virtual tourism is poorly studied in the scientific literature, as virtual reality technologies have appeared relatively recently, and are often used in entertainment and educational spheres. These technologies have never been used in the field of eco-tourism. We were able to identify and study the main problems of the development of ecotourism in Russia, as well as technical nuances and difficulties associated with. (Mazurov, 1996, 2004; Smirnova & Lapteva, 2004; Urzha et al., 2018).

References

1. Arsen'yeva, Ye. I., Kuskov, A. S., & Feoktistova, N. (2005). Tourism and cultural heritage. Interuniversity collection of scientific papers, 2.
2. Babkin, A. V. (2008). Special types of tourism. Rostov n / A: Phoenix.
3. Ceballos, L. H. (1984). The Future of Ecotourism. Mexico journal.
4. Ceballos, L. H. (1993). Ecotourism in Central America. Technical Report for WTO/UNDP.
5. Cugina, E. A. (2018). Innovative aspects of eco-tourism in the Rostov region (Science and innovation in the XXI century: topical issues, discoveries and achievements. Collection of articles VIII International scientific-practical conference: Science and Education.
6. Dyachenko, I. L., Khetagurova, V. Sh., Bryukhanova, G. A., Sosnov, M. N., & Bryantseva, M. V. (2015). The estimation of possibilities of product and imported raw substitution. Biosciences Biotechnology Research Asia, 12(2), 1603-1613.
7. Grabovenko, V. V. (2003). Ecological tourism: textbook.-method. Benefit. Finance and statistics.
8. Ivanov, A. N., & Chizhova, V. P. (2003). Protected natural areas: studies. Benefit. Publishing house of Moscow state University.
9. Lindberg, K., & Hawking, D. (1993). Ecotourism: A Guide for Planners and Managers, V. I. The Ecotourism Society.
10. Mazurov, Yu. L. (1996). Protected areas of natural and cultural heritage. Vestnik Mosk. uni-TA, sir. geogr., 4, 52-61.
11. Mazurov, Yu. L. (2004). Ecotourism in Russia: global context and national peculiarities. Regional studies, Smolensk, 1(3), 33.
12. Smirnova, M. V., & Lapteva, N. (2004). In. Nature – Culture – Tourism: The Digest (Scientific and information center for culture and art, Department of cultural studies. Publishing house of Ogiik.
13. Urzha, O. A., Kataeva, V. I., Evstratova, T. A., Zhukova, V., & Ilina, I. Yu. (2018). Using The Scenarios Of Simulation Case Assignments In The Educational Process Of Students In The Specialty State and Municipal Management. Master's Degree Programme, International Journal of Engineering and Technology (UAE), 7(4.38), 597-602.