“The main task of our Centre is to train experienced and highly-skilled tourism instructors. For the last 30 years, the system has become fully destroyed – so that now the qualified specialists are really worth their weight in gold.
“Today we have a good many of various educational programs. Last year, we had good results – there were about 120 instructors studying at our school. This year, the figure will double. On the whole, what we need are minimum 3,000 experienced specialists for the region.”
Q.: What is the idea of the annual ‘Kuban round-the-world voyage’?
A.: The idea of such voyage was born long ago. It was our region’s history that actually gave me this idea. If you remember, on June 30, 1792, Catherine II presented the Cossacks with the Isle of Phanagoria and the lands between the River Kuban and the Sea of Azov “into the eternal possession.” In fact, that was my starting point.
The expedition consists of 4 stages and runs along the borders of the Krasnodar region – over 1,500 km by bicycles, on foot and by boats to the remotest places of the region. At first, I made it myself, without children, just with a couple of friends – and only then we decided to have kids in the program.
I can tell you that since then this route has become a certain brand – so that teenagers from the Kuban region and beyond willingly participate in it.
Q.: The new expedition you are about to leave for with a team of teenagers is often referred to as a unique one. Why?
A.: It will run under the title Back to Our Sources. According to the schedule, our team will have to climb Mount Elbrus, Europe’s highest peak, and we will harness its both summits. Then we will walk to the Kuban’s spring in the aul (highlanders’ village) of Uchkulan, and go downstream to the river’s mouth.
Q.: The route will go along several North Caucasian Republics. Is it a complicating factor?
A.: Not at all. The only thing a tourist and a traveler should always do is to do in Rome as the Romans do, and to respect the customs and traditions of the peoples they have visited.
За всеми важными новостями следите в MAX, Telegram, во «ВКонтакте», «Одноклассниках», YouTube и на Rutube
