Russia and the countries of the Former Soviet Union

Russia and the countries of the Former Soviet Union

Russia and the countries of the Former Soviet Union • Former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR or simply the Soviet Union) was divided into 15 independent countries • One of the greatest potential tourist destinations in the world • Disintegrated as a unified country in the fall of 1991

Russia and the countries of the Former Soviet Union • Three of the countries – Estonia, Lativa, and Lithuania (collectively known as Baltic States) – chose to remain completely independent • 12 remaining countries have formed a loose political organisation called the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)

Russia and the countries of the Former Soviet Union • Formed the largest cultures, climates, and vegetation of any comparable group of countries in the world • Economies of nearly all of the fifteen countries are lower today than before 1990 • Breakup of old trade relationships has negatively affected individuals and countries

Russia and the countries of the Former Soviet Union • First Period • Emergence of the Russian Empire • Centuries of Russian Empire resulted in the construction of many beautiful cities, palaces, museums, and churches

Russia and the countries of the Former Soviet Union • Second Period • Affecting the countries created from the former Soviet Union began in 1917 • Communism dominated the country creating 15 republics with Russia being the largest

Russia and the countries of the Former Soviet Union • Third Period • Affecting tourism in this region began in the late 1980s • 60 years of government control, explored the idea of free enterprise

Russia and the countries of the Former Soviet Union • Concepts of glasnost (free exchange of information and ideas), perestroika (restructuring of industry to emphasize quality and profitability rather than volume of production whether profitable or not), and demokratization (democratic ideals)

Geographic Base of the countries • Tremendous size and location • 6.6 million square miles of area • Largest country in the world, about twice the size of Canada, China or the United States

Land • Northerly location of most of the lands of these countries handicaps development of agriculture and exploitation of mineral resources • Isolated because of their northerly location and the difficulty of utilizing their ports and harbors

Land • Common division of the region is into the Russian Plain, the Ural Mountains, the west Siberian Lowland, the central Siberian Uplands, and the eastern and southern mountain system

Climate : Tourism in Harsh Lands • Either extremely cold or extremely dry Controlled by any five factors :- • Size of the landmass of the continent • High-Latitude location of Russia and the Baltic countries • Lack of physical barriers across the country to prevent movement of air masses

Climate : Tourism in Harsh Lands • Tundra Climate • Drop to below -50% • Summer temperatures exceed 60 degrees F • Summer is short and cool • Few inhabitants and little use of the land

Climate : Tourism in Harsh Lands • Subarctic Climate • Largest climatic region • Winter temperatures -98% • Summer temperatures 90%F • Use for agriculture is limited because of the short growing season and permafrost

Climate : Tourism in Harsh Lands • Humid Continental Climate • Climatic zone in the Baltics, Russia, Belarus and Ukraine • Receives ample precipitation in most years and has good soils for agriculture • Pleasant season of the year is generally the autumn, when skies are clear, temperatures mild

People of the countries created from the Former Soviet Union • Great ethnic differences, possible to divide the population of the fifteen new countries into three ethnic groups • Russia numbering 51% of the fifteen countries total population follow by Ukrainians of 17% of the population

Foreign Tourism • New governments hope tourism will become a primary economic activity, attracting foreign and domestic tourists • Under the communists, domestic tourism was internal • Not until the 1980s’ that residents of the Soviet Union could travel freely within the country

Foreign Tourism • Foreign travel for nearly all Soviet citizens was simply not allowed before 1990 • Also, foreign tourists were not allowed at that time as it could undermine socialist society

Foreign Tourism Several advantages to the Soviet Union to have a few very large tourist facilities for foreign visitors :- • Simple means to process and handle foreign visitors as they arrived and departed • Economies of scale in providing both food and lodging

Russia • Capital : Moscow • Government : Democratic Russia • Official : Russian Federation • Size : 6,592,849 square miles • Tourist Season : May to Sept but Moscow and St Petersburg attract tourists year round • Population : 144.4 million

Russia • Vast land with all types of terrain, ranging from the broad expanses of the Russian plain in the west to high mountains in the south and east • Diverse landforms provides unlimited potential for experiencing the beauties of this vast land

Tourism characteristics • Primary destination of tourists to the region encompassed by the former USSR • Two leading destinations have been and remain Moscow and St Petersburg • Its facilities and services were below the standards compared with other European countries

Tourism characteristics • Breakup of USSR and the emergence of free enterprise, characteristics are changing • Lead to new restaurants, tour agencies, new or newly remodeled hotels providing better accommodations and entertainment such as casino gambling

Tourist Destination and Attractions • Major destinations are Moscow and the surrounding area known as Golden Ring • St. Petersburg and the surrounding region, Russian Black Sea Coast centered on Sochi, Russian Northwest and Siberia • Greatest attraction is the Kremlin and related Cathedrals

Tourist Destination and Attractions • In front of the Kremlin is Lenin’s tomb and St. Basil’s Cathedral surmounted by gold crosses symbolize Old Russia • St. Petersburg remains the second largest city in size and attraction for foreign visitors to Russia

Tourist Destination and Attractions • Buildings and morphology of St Petersburg reflect the influence of French and Italian architects and artists under Peter the Great

Tourist Destination and Attractions • Siberia is the vast land stretching east of the Ural Mountains • Most widely known attractions within it are the Trans-Siberian Railroad and Lake Baikal • Cities reflect Soviet planning • Good potential for Japanese and American tourists interested in experiencing Russia now that travel is possible to this eastern rim of Russia

Tourist Destination and Attractions • Vladivostok on the east coast of Russia has seen explosive growth as tourists and business travelers from the United States and Japan flock to this region that was closed to non Soviet citizens until after 1991. • Alaska Airlines and Japan Air offer flights to this region

Russia and the countries of the Former Soviet Union