Arctic Tourism Laboratory: expert visit to Tersky district – the cradle of Pomor culture

The next expert visit of the Arctic Tourism Laboratory to the Tersky district, the cradle of Pomor culture, took place in 2022.

The event was attended by representatives of the regional tourism and hospitality industry, the Tourism Committee of the Murmansk region and the Tourist Information Center of the region. The purpose of the expert visit was to visit objects of tourist interest and assess resources for the formation and improvement of the existing tourist product.

The experts visited the historical and ethnographic complex of tonya "Tetrina" - a sea farm restored as reliably as possible in its former place, where they got acquainted with the life and culture of the Pomors, as well as with the history of Tonya.

During the sightseeing tour, members of the Arctic Tourism Laboratory saw the main sights of the Tersk district. After visiting the ancient Pomeranian village of Olenitsa, experts received information about the "White Sea rogulki" – rare mineral formations called glendonites. We got acquainted with Pyotr Prokopevich Zaborshchikov, the creator of the museum of Pomeranian life in the "Center for the Protection of the Pomeranian Cultural Heritage" and the Pomeranian hut in the village of Varzuga, the oldest settlement on the Kola Peninsula. They took part in festive events dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the museum-reserve "Petroglyphs of Kanozera".

Experts assessed the possibilities of catering establishments – cafe "Sea Breeze" and cafe "Coast" in the village of Umba, as well as accommodation facilities – guest houses "Jagra" in the village of Kuzreka, guest houses "Kashkarants", hotel "Varzuga" and guest houses in the village of Varzuga, Cedar Grass White Sea hotel, recreation center "Harbor", guest houses "Perigee" and "Staraya Umba", located in the village of Umba.

The final event was an acquaintance with the House of Culture of the urban settlement of Umba. Members of the Arctic Tourism Laboratory attended a master class on making a twist doll, got acquainted with unique souvenir products and took part in the folklore program "Pomorskaya Vecherka".

In addition, a meeting with business representatives of the Tersky district took place at the site of the House of Culture. Vera Konoshkina told the guests about the recreation center "Vilma", and Yuri Barkov – about the recreation center "Barkas". During the meeting, Olga Kostrova, an employee of the Tourist Information Center of the Murmansk region, presented the projects "Treasures of the earth – nature, people, traditions", "The White Sea is our field. On a visit to the pomors" and "We are Pathfinders with you! We will walk the same path!". Alexey Nikolaevich Koshev, an employee of the House of Culture of the urban settlement of Umba, presented a project on event tourism – the Arctic festival "Northern Frosts", and Maria Vasilyevna Lushina, an employee of the territorial department of history, Culture and life of the Tersk Pomors of the Murmansk Regional Museum of Local Lore, told about the activities and opportunities of the museum of history, culture and life of the Tersk Pomors.

"People go to people. We were once again convinced of this by visiting the Tersk Coast with regional tour operators as part of an expert trip of the Arctic Lab Tourism. It is important that the group of experts included those who regularly take tourists to the White Sea, but they also discovered many new ideas for the formation of tours. There are more and more legal businesses who are ready to discuss blocks of seats, contracts, group prices, etc. with tour operators, and this is an important indicator. Thanks to the work of the front office of the Tourist Information Center in Umba, it is now easier to build joint work," said Alexander Eliseev, Chairman of the Murmansk Region Tourism Committee.