Rural tourism as a mirror of the Belarusian mentality
Agritourism in Belarus will develop. But, as in any new business, the sky above it is not cloudless.
Five substantive questions
1. At first, when the decree was just born, the main wave of surprise was caused by a clause securing the right to engage in rural tourism without paying taxes only to rural residents. Today, almost the majority of the owners of Belarusian agro-farmsteads are citizens, who always respond faster to everything new. When the first euphoria of the decree was over, it became clear that this point can only be put up with. After all, the reason for the appearance of this document is by no means in tourism, but in the fact that the state is looking for ways out, how to revive village. Today, the owners of the farmsteads estimate certain provisions of the decree already more soberly and are ready to adapt to them.
2. To start a business, and then develop it, you need money. Agrotourism business is no exception. The logical step of the state, if it is really interested in the development of rural tourism, would be the allocation of soft loans. But, while Belarusian banks are not ready for this and have not received any instructions on this matter. To get money, you need an income statement, a declaration. How to submit documents to the bank, while no income?
3. Perhaps the most difficult and complicated question of Belarusian agritourism is the mentality of local residents. It is only at first glance that this question looks irrelevant, and our population in the hinterland is absolutely hospitable. In fact, in the opinion of practicians, this is a fundamental aspect, and here, naturally, you can’t decide problems either by fiats or decrees. “We tried to settle tourists among the local population,” says the director of APC “Pervomaysky” (the first and only agrotouristic village in Belarus) Sergei Luchenok, “but in this case it’s impossible to ensure the safety of guests (especially urgent for foreigners). If the tourist, figuratively speaking, went beyond the limits of your garden, anyone drunk with pitchforks is a threat. The only option is to enclose the territory and set guard”.
4. It goes without saying that people who have begun to engage in agro-tourism want to develop this business and at the same time face purely “technological” but very important problems. “The owners of the farmsteads today have no right to build a second house on the plot,” says Andrey Nizhnik, the owner of the famous Zarechany farmstead, the chairman of the public council for agro-tourism at the Minsk Regional Executive Committee. - But it is impossible to live by yourself and take tourists in the same house. Sometimes guests want to have fun until the morning - the noise, music, and the owners need a rest. This is wrong and uncomfortable for everyone.”
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5. Finally, another problem, as complex as the mentality of the population, is the relationship with the local authorities. As a matter of fact, on the topic of agro-tourism it is time to draw a caricature. In the center - the owner of the farmstead with bread and salt, on the left - a representative of the local rural population with pitchforks and a bottle of vodka, on the right - an official, wearing a hat and at a loss ... In fact, relations with local authorities among representatives of agritourism, despite all the decrees, are mixed and are uneven. To date, only the standard contract in the field of agro-tourism is ready. These two documents - the decree and the contract, in fact, brought the Belarusian rural tourism out of the shadows, recognized its presence in Belarus and showed that the state sees in it a perspective. Now it is important not to stir up this perspective, but to make it distinct and, if not rosy, then at least light.
Text 2. P. 149-150
Today, using travel agencies to fulfill any desire is simple. Anything you want: the sea, the beach, oriental sweets, mountains, if you want to feel like the patron saint of peaks, excursions to museums and places of memory. But what if the soul asks for something else?
Initially, the expression "religious tourism" can cause some confusion. How is it possible to take and combine such incompatible at first sight concepts? And there is some truth in this. First of all, tourism and religion have quite different goals. Tourism presupposes rather idleness, carelessness and a certain freedom, to which, probably, vacationers aspire. But religion, on the contrary, disciplines, reminds us of the rules, norms and dogmas. But you can relax in different ways. For some, traveling to holy places, exploring religious architecture, getting to know the culture of certain denominations and their adherents was the best rest.
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However, one should not confuse religious tourism with pilgrimage. In Russia, these concepts have long been demarcated and even made certain amendments to the federal law "On the Fundamentals of the Tourist Activities of the Russian Federation." Religious tourism nevertheless underpins cognitive and educational purposes. Under the pilgrimage, however, they suggest traveling with the purpose of worshiping religious shrines. Often it is associated with fasting, prayers, a certain lifestyle.
Text 3. P. 151-153
Today, in the Belarusian tourism sector, neither religious tourism nor pilgrimage are developed destinations. The easiest way for tourists is to find standard routes in which the well-known shrines are represented: Zhirovichsky Saint Assumption Monastery, St. Michael’s Church in Synkovichi, Yefrosinya the Saviour Female Monastery in Polotsk, The Bernardines Church in Budslav. And most often travel agencies work with organized groups.
Traveling on foreign routes related to religion is a piece of "goods". One of the priorities here is Israel. During your trip to The Holy Land, you will be offered to familiarize with such places as Saint George’s Cathetral, the Gate of the Holy Land, the St. Peter’s Church, Russian Orthodox Church, Nazareth, The River Jordan (the baptism of pilgrims), Mount of Beatitudes (Christ’s sermon on the mount), and of course, a separate item is Jerusalem, as the cradle of the three religions.
There are special tours that include a wedding in the Russian Orthodox Church in Jerusalem. If financial opportunities allow, you can also order individual programs that will include any religious holidays - at the request of the client. You can, for example, perform the rite of baptism, and you can plan to visit the holy places and combine it with regular rest. Religious routes to Poland, Russia and other countries are less popular. But in this case, I repeat, the expression “every whim for your money” is relevant. Travel agencies are ready to develop special routes to virtually any country. In this case, the client is free to choose the desired items, time and purpose of the visit.
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Not everyone knows that there is a pilgrimage department of the Minsk Eparchy. At the moment, it offers a wide variety of routes directly for pilgrims. For example, one of the most popular ones: The Holy Annunciation Monastery in Lyady, the Holy Protection Church in Dzerzhinsk, the tomb of Blessed Valentina in the village of Krysovo. There are more distant ones: The St. Nicholas Church in Logoisk (prayer, source), the Holy Transfiguration Church in the village of Paplishche - the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary (acathistus the miraculous icon of the Mother of God " Tenderness"); orthodox shrines of Vitebsk; Ratomka-Zaslavl - Krasnoye - Molodechno - Vileyka and much more. The pilgrimage department also offers two-day trips to places like Korma-Gomel or Brest-Khmelevo. Routes are usually coordinated with the schedule of temples, so pilgrims know in advance where the liturgy will take place, where there is prayer or akathist or, for example, an all-night vigil. Liturgy is of particular importance for believers, since it is on this service that people take communion. Pilgrims prepare for it in advance: fast, pray, confess. Have a repast (meal - eating with prayer) they are at monasteries.
If this is a two-day trip, overnight stay is organized there. Unfortunately, at the moment, not all churches have hotels or monasteries, where you can place a group of pilgrims. But faith teaches people tolerance and humility; therefore, external conditions recede before high spiritual goals. The pilgrimage department also organizes routes to neighboring countries, where the conditions of stay are not very different from those offered in our country. Developed a route to Italy for the feast of the saint Nicholas: Dresden - Venice - Loretta - Lanciano - Bari - Rome - Nuremberg. The department also offers to visit Greece and the Holy Land. As you can see, the offers are different and they are designed for pilgrims with different needs and, accordingly, financial opportunities.
It turns out that tourism and religion are not too far from each other. With the right approach, they can be successfully combined and, what to hide, make a profit. In some countries of the West and neighboring countries have already appreciated the possibilities of developing these areas, and now there is work to attract foreign tourists. But from the point of view of religious tourism and pilgrimage, Belarus is simply a unique country, where a great many shrines are concentrated, and not only orthodox. And undoubtedly, if we take the right course, then not only our compatriots, but also pilgrims from other countries will be able to appreciate the holy wealth of our country.
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