History of the Sheregesh ski resort establishment in Kemerovo Oblast (1990-2003)

The paper reveals the history of tourism infrastructure development at the Sheregesh Ski Resort in the south of Kemerovo Oblast. The formation of post-industrial economy for the Russian Federation is one of the most topical tasks of the present-day science. The historical study of the successful experience of tourism industry development in the industrial region may be useful for the future formation of the region's tourism infrastructure. The topicality of the present-day study of tourism industry in Mountain Shoria is sustained by the poor historical basis on that issue. Regretfully, the number of documents on tourism infrastructure development in state archives is minimal. The situation is complicated by the fact that in 1990-2004 the control over of the tourism sphere was passed from one department of Kemerovo Oblast Administration to another several times. Small- and medium-scale private tourism enterprises often changed their forms of ownership and names, and went bankrupt. The small- and medium-scale businesses could not afford to keep their documents in the State Archive of Kemerovo Oblast, and were reluctant to do that. The documents reflecting the establishment of tourism and hospitality industry in the 1990s only remained in the private archives. The expert interviews that the author organized with people involved in the establishment of the resort and interviews that had been published in the mass media became a major source for this research. The research allowed establishing the fact that in the 1990s - early 2000s the foundation for tourism industry and skiing tourism development in Mountain Shoria was laid. The system of public-private partnership that formed under the conditions of the post-Soviet economic crisis was an important factor for the development of the resort. The urge to solve the socio-economic problems of the Tashtagol area after the collapse of the state-planned Soviet economy motivated the local authorities to find an unconventional solution: developing the tourism industry - in contrast to the traditional resource specialization. The recreational and resource potential of Mountain Shoria was used by the tourist and sports "Shoria Tour" joint-stock company which allowed forming the primary infrastructure (the ski trails on Zelenaya Mountain, "Medvezhonok" tourist camp and "Tourist" railway station) in 1990-1995. In 1996-1999, the marketing promotion of Sheregesh through holding prestigious skiing and snowboarding competitions and building an automobile road allowed increasing the tourist flow as well. Since 1999, after the primary infrastructure was formed and Kemerovo Oblast Administration became more actively involved, regional and national investors were actively attracted and the state program of ski resort development was elaborated. It is on that basis that the Sheregesh Ski Resort was established in 2003, and it still has the potential for an even more large-scale development and more effective marketing.

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