TASS, July 13. /TASS/. A tourism-recreational cluster will be organized in Yakutia’s Verkhoyansk District, where the lowest air temperature outside the Antarctica - minus 67.8 degrees - was registered in 2022. The new cluster’s master plan was made by the region’s Agency for Development of Tourism and Marketing, the agency’s representative Vitaly Topchan told TASS.
Earlier, Yakutia reported it was approaching the pre-pandemic numbers of visitors (200,000 guests a year). The region expects that in 2022 the number of visitors will grow by about 25% year-on-year. The national culture, traditions, and the Yakut nature are among the biggest attractions. The region has 26 tourism operators, where six operators work in the Arctic zone.
"The project [to organize the Verkhoyansk - Heart of Arctic tourism-recreational cluster] plays an important role for the regional economy: presently, the economic activity in the Verkhoyansk District is mostly in mineral extraction and in work of state agencies. Tourism must be an alternative for the regional economic development," the agency’s representative said. The regional administration has included the project to organize the cluster into the plan for the social and economic development to 2035.
Unique place
Yakutia’s Verkhoyansk District is north from the Arctic Circle, in a mountainous area, which is taken mostly by the Verkhoyansk Mountain System. The district’s area is 134,400 square kilometers, or three areas of the Moscow Region. The population is slightly more than 10,000. The district’s only city - Verkhoyansk - is the world’s coldest city.
The district is known for its unique nature. For example, it has the so-called Yakut Stonehenge, or Northern Shambala - the Kisilyakh Mountains, high standing stones. From a distance, they may resemble people, and this explains the name - Kisilyakh, which in Yakut means "the place where people are." Some high stones are similar to the Easter Island’s stone idols. The locals believe: visiting the Kisilyakh builds up spiritual strength in people.
Another local attraction is the Batagay thermokarst pit. It is some seven kilometers from the region’s center - the village of Batagay. The pit began growing in the 1960s-1970s, and over half a century has widened to 800 meters. The length is more than one kilometer, the depth reaches 100 meters. The pit’s edges are unstable, as the pit continues to expand.
The so-called Batagayka is sometimes referred to as "the Gates to Hell," but the pit is primarily of scientific importance. The area is known for its paleontological objects. For example, the locals have found there a half of an adult horse carcass about 4,400 years old and a full mummy of a primitive bison calf of about 8,200 years old.
The cluster project additionally includes the Adycha Paleontology Museum and the Ulakhan-Sular section. The Adycha River attracts fans of rafting and those interested in paleontology. The Pole of Cold and an ethnic complex in Verkhoyansk are also parts of tourist routes.
To see what is hard-to-reach
The work on the project’s master plan began in 2021 and was over in twelve months. The document covers investment projects in basic and commercial infrastructures. The basic infrastructures include a boat station in Betenkes - on the left bank of the Adycha River, an observation site near Batagaika, and the installation of special navigation stands. The commercial infrastructures include module hotels by the thermokarst pit, a glamping near the Kisilyakh Mountain. "We suggest making module hotels as a temporary option for tourists," Topchan said.
The district will be most attractive for pilgrims, photo artists and bloggers, scientific and ecology tourists. "Those are people, who have traveled the world, have seen many beaches and mountains, and who now are eager to see something interesting, remote and hard-to-reach," he added.
The current rate of visitors to the district is about 1,200 people a year. "Experts say the potential [in case of a cluster] may be 9,500 visitors a year," the district’s administration said. Specialists forecast 20% of visitors will come from Yakutia’s other districts, 25% - from across Russia, and 55% - from other countries.
The project’s infrastructures will be developed within 2022-2023, and from 2024 the cluster will become self-sufficient, the plan reads.
"In 2022, we will decide on the legal form of a managing company, which will be organized at the Verkhoyansk Region’s tourism development center," Topchan continued. "We plan that in 2023 the managing company will be working already."
"In November, we expect a business forum, where we will put together a calendar plan to develop the cluster, and where we will attract additional investors and renters," he added.
In 2021, the Verkhoyansk District’s authorities allocated subsidies worth 870,000 rubles ($15,000) for development of tourist bases. Three bases received the incentives. They will use the money to upgrade infrastructures and to purchase necessary equipment.