TASS, February 25. The Umka first eco-glamping, which opened on the Chukchi Peninsula (Chukotka), in the coming tourist season, will begin using alternative energy sources to cut the negative impact on the environment, the project’s author Maxim Krupenya told TASS.
"I’ve served in the Armed Forces for many years, and when retired, I studied at the university - electric and heat energy. Why?" you many ask, when I am planning to devote the second half of my life to development of tourism. The answer is - in order to calculate correctly the independence of my project and to be using fully only alternative energy sources," he said. "As for the Umka glamping - to be using a hydropower turbine, to cut the negative impact from our work on the environment; I plan to be doing it next season."
Nature-friendly comfort
Maxim came to the Lavrentiya village on the Chukchi Peninsula to serve in the Army. The glamping is located not far from that village. A few years before the retirement, he began looking into the Arctic tourism business and realized he wanted to have as many as possible people fall in love with that north-eastern region.
"I’ve received the Far Eastern Hectare (the Russian state program to allocate one-hectare plots for free), where the glamping is located, literally within an instant: an application, a couple of documents, and here I own two plots in different locations," the project’s author said. "In 2020, due to the pandemic, many more Russian tourists traveled to the peninsula. It’s impossible to think of a better timing to begin a tourism business: I bought six domes, leased a car and bought a sea boat. My essential approach is that I cooperate only with Russian businesses and companies - believe me, their products are no worse. They have passed the tests in Chukotka’s squally winds."
The eco-glamping was named Umka not only after the well-known (Russian) cartoon character - a polar bear cub, it is an acronym, which may be read as "unique routes - comfortable atmosphere" (u.m.k.a. in Russian). As many as 20 tourists may enjoy the comfort in twin and bunk beds. Umka has accommodated first guests already.
"On the Chukchi Peninsula it’s all about weather, so making whatever business plans you have to remember about storms and blizzards in August," he continued. "We brought the glamping to the peninsula in summer, 2021, and I was hoping the facility would be ready within ten days, but in reality we were happy to hardly make it within 30 days. We were working real hard and won. In September, we welcomed the first guests - a group of tourists from Austria and Germany."
Incredibly interesting
Clearly, tourists visiting the Chukchi Peninsula do not expect five-star luxury, but anyway all tourist operators stress guests must expect and get at least minimal conditions even in most hard-to-reach destinations. Moreover, tourists pay between dozens or hundreds of thousands of rubles (1RUB is $0.01). At a professional forum in December 2021, Dmitry Kulikov, a travel blogger, who organizes trips to the Far East, said a lack of abodes hinders development of tourism into the region.
According to him, people, who pay for the trips more than 150,000 rubles ($1,800) have to stay at private flats, and sometimes the owners for that period have to move to relatives, and the guests have to live inside "somebody’s lifestyle."
The glamping organizer agrees with that. The advantage of staying at a glamping is that tourists sleep in cozy beds right amid the tundra, he stressed. Another ten minutes - and they enjoy thermal mineral springs, and in the evening they are invited to local master classes to cut bones or to watch a folk arts concert. Without tiresome traveling, he added.
"Another task I have is to offer an entertainment program, which the guests will remember. We have about ten routes: trips to ethnic Chukchi and Eskimo villages, fishing, mountain climbing, kayaking, master classes in national crafts, trips to deer herders," he told us.
From east to west
Chukotka’s government has supported the glamping project from the very beginning. The regional department of finances, economy and property told TASS the Umka project had been drafted with the support of the Chukotka Development Fund. A regional microcredit company has loaned to the businessman 5 million rubles ($59,000) for the interest of 5.5%. Maxim also has received a grant from the regional finance department. Besides, the local administration has supported the idea.
"Nowhere else they allocate more money than in Chukotka, and without the strong financial support the project wouldn’t have begun," Maxim said. "With such a support I can be moving on."
His next plan is to open on his second Far Eastern Hectare, not far from Bezymyannaya Bay, a scientific base for experts who come to study the Arctic climate and mammals. The base, he said, will also use only alternative energy sources. Parallel to this project, Maxim has been organizing a glamping in the country’s westernmost part - the Kaliningrad Region.
"I come from the Kaliningrad Region - this explains my aspirations from east to west, and back. I want to implement Umka there - to open a glamping in a nature reserve, having preserved the national Chukchi style in one of the locations. I can see it’s reasonable, since as many as possible people must see the beauty of the stunning north-eastern region. I would like to accommodate people from Chukotka who come to spend holidays: in the country’s south it may be a bit too hot for them, and in the moderate Kaliningrad Region the sea hunters and reindeer herders, for example, could improve health conditions after work in the Arctic. At the same time, they would feel at home there," the businessman said.
In 2021, about 18,000 tourists visited the Chukchi Peninsula - comparable with the number of visitors in 2020. Due to the coronavirus, tourism companies have been offering routes for Russian tourists and specifically for people who live on the peninsula: those could be walking routes or weekend trips. The number of foreign tourists has slumped as the Russian borders have been closed and consequently, cruise vessels are not coming to the local ports.