The tourist cluster "Gora Belaya" will be developed by students of the GSEM Summer School “Doing business in Russia”

12:11, July 12, 2021

The International Summer School "Doing Business in Russia" started on July 07

Participants of the VIII International Summer School "Doing Business in Russia", organized by the Master's programme "International Management", will present their ideas for the development of infrastructure in the territory of the tourist cluster "Gora Belaya". The joint project involves 30 students from Russia, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, China, Ecuador, Suriname, united in 4 teams for the development of business projects. The multi-cultural environment is ensured by the fact that the teaching at the school is conducted in English.

The school started on July 7. At the first stage, participants will be told about the features of the tourist cluster locations, the existing infrastructure and possible growth points. On July 10, the guys will go to the fields and get acquainted with the locations on the spot. The excursion program includes: an art residence in the village of Chernoistochinsk, the Gora Belaya ski complex, the village of Visim and the museum "Russian Hut", a deer farm, the village of Ust-Utka and its attractions.

"This year, the focus of the international summer school is aimed at project management, entrepreneurship and the business environment, with an emphasis on non-standard approaches dictated by the challenge of the time. We introduce participants to the best practices implemented by companies during the pandemic crisis, tell them how companies in the creative industries are not only experiencing a crisis, but also developing in Russia and abroad. One of these sites is the tourist cluster "Gora Belaya". In the conditions of restrictions on international movement, we must use the opportunity to develop our territories. The multicultural environment and the competencies previously acquired by students are a powerful resource not only for generating ideas, but also for working out final solutions that are completely ready for integration into real business," emphasizes Lyudmila Ruzhanskaya, head of the school, head of the Department of International Economics and Management of GSEM UrFU, Professor.

Each team of participants of the summer school will have to solve a case presented by the tourist cluster "Gora Belaya", offering their vision of the development of a particular location.

"We have identified several objects that require development. Among them is a ski complex, the potential of which is only partially used in the summer. Students will be asked to develop an investment project for the summer season or a year-round one that will attract tourists. Other growth points are Chernoistochinsky and Visimo-Shaitan ponds. Water activities for tourists are now limited to trips on saps and catamarans, although here the flight of imagination is limitless, "said Anton Novikov, commercial director of tourist cluster "Gora Belaya".

All the works of the participants of the international summer school should contain not only a descriptive part, but also specific calculations: investments, performance indicators, tourist flow. An expert jury of representatives, tutors of the summer school and the cluster will give their assessment of the ideas on July 16. The best projects will be taken into deeper study and implementation, and for their authors in the future they can become the starting point for creating a business in Russia

Reference

The territory of the Gora Belaya cluster is located two hours away from Yekaterinburg (in the direction of Nizhny Tagil) and includes 16 settlements. The total area is more than 2500 sq. km. In the near future of strategic development – the creation of a project of an authentic village in the heart of the cluster-the village of Visim and the village of Ust-Utka. In 2020, these settlements were visited by 40,000 and 30,000 people, respectively.

More than 350,000 people visit the territory of the tourist cluster annually. The projected attendance by 2028 will be 1.5 million people - this is 15% of the total demand of residents of the Urals for domestic tourism.