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DEVELOPMENT OF AGRO-ECOTOURISM IN BELARUS
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DEVELOPMENT OF AGRO-ECOTOURISM IN BELARUSTourism is an important sector of the national economy of Belarus. One of the popular types of tourism is agro-ecotourism. What can be better than a vacation in the countryside? The trend of agro-ecotourism came to Belarus much later than to the countries of Europe. The idea of such type of tourism development in Belarus was, so to say, in the air, while the greatest Belarusian attraction is, certainly, the beauty and virginity of nature. Despite of the fact that Belarus lacks deep clean seas or high mountains, there is a huge potential for agro-ecotourism – 20 000 of rivers, 10 000 of lakes and forests. And do not forget about numerous villages preserved from the very 19th century. All that was needed to make the idea become the reality is some organization that would unite people. So, in November 2002, Agro-ecotourism Public Organization was established, and this date can be considered the official start of agro-ecotourism development in Belarus [1]. Agricultural tourism is one of the fastest developing types of tourism in Belarus and the country has already succeeded in it. This is reflected in a significant increase in the subjects of agro-ecotourism and the corresponding number of tourists. Dynamics of the number of tourists is shown in figure 1. The number of tourists who used agro-ecotourism services in 2014 was 318.8 thousand, 17,3% more than in 2013. The residents of Belarus made up 86,9% of total agro-ecotourists (figure 1). So, it has become more popular with Belarusian and foreign tourists. Figure 1 – The number of tourists who used agro-ecotourism services 
Source – Own development based on [2, p. 67]. Dynamics of the number of agro-ecotourism facilities is shown in figure 2. According to the Ministry for Taxes and Duties of the Republic of Belarus, at the end of 2014 there were 2 037 agro-ecotourism facilities in Belarus, 156 more than in 2013. So, the number of agro-ecotourism is constantly growing year by year. It can be explained by the growing need of modern people to come back to their origin (figure 2).
Source – Own development based on [3]. So, agro-ecotourism is a very promising direction of development. But to solve the problem of successful development of agro-ecotourism it is necessary to analyze the factors influencing this process both positively and negatively. Among the positive factors of development of rural tourism are: the availability of attractive natural and rural landscapes, the preservation of ethnic characteristics and rare elements of material culture and way of life of the Belarusian village. While rich nature, tolerant people and high level of security contribute to the development of tourism in Belarus there are several negative factors. Constraining factors in the development of agro-tourism are some of the socio-geographical and natural conditions. Among the socio-geographical conditions specificity of rural settlement system is observed, which is dominated by medium and large settlements. But farm settlement system is more suitable for the organization of agro-ecotourism. The natural environment has short favorable period for summer holidays. Short duration of a favorable period objectively contributes to a decline in service during the year and increase input intensities of services provided. Seasonality of demand, meanwhile, can be mitigated by offering tourists a variety of entertainment in the offseason program, based on ancient festivals, rituals and customs. In order to further the development of agro-ecotourism in Belarus today innovative projects in the field of agro-ecotourism have been launched. For example, project “Geographic Information System development of rural tourism in Brest and Grodno regions” involves the creation of a special software product for a wide range of Internet users. The product will be equipped with digital maps, the results of evaluation of the competitiveness of the tourist offer of the region. The system optimizes the planning and management in the tourism industry of the two regions. It should be noted that Belarus has already sold more than 20 international technical assistance projects, but such a large scale is realized for the first time [4, p. 12]. It should also be noted that Belagroprombank initiated support for agro-ecotourism development in the Republic of Belarus. Belagroprombank has been implementing the Program for agro-ecotourism development in the Republic of Belarus since 2007. The Bank provides loan support to agroecotourism entities within the Program and based on specific local regulatory legal acts of the Bank regulating the loan-granting procedure. Also Belagroprombank has its own training centre and assists in providing training for those interested in rendering tourist services. Trainees familiarize themselves with the quality standards of a rural farmstead and improve their ecological literacy and knowledge of financial accounting management. Moreover, Belagroprombank jointly with the Belarusian public association organized two specialized conferences dedicated to the issues of agro-ecotourism development and established the “Best Farmstead of the Year” contest [5].
В статье говорится о развитии агроэкотуризма в Республике Беларусь. Содержатся аналитические данные о субъектах агроэкотуризма на территории Республики Беларусь и количестве туристов, их посещающих. Указаны основные проблемы развития данного вида туризма и приведены меры по его совершенствованию. Yüklə 1,51 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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