Promotion of food culture based on gastronomic tourism technologies on the example of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)

Vinokurova Marfa Aleksandrovna Senior Educator, Department of Socio-Cultural Service and Tourism, Institute of Languages and Cultures of the Peoples of the Northeast Region of the Russian Federation, Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University 677000, Russia, Respublika Sakha (Yakutiya), g. Yakutsk, ul. Kulakovskogo, 42, kab. 202b vinokurova.21@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Introduction.

Nutrition is one of the basic conditions of human existence, and the problem of improving the quality of nutrition and leisure activities is one of the main problems of human culture.

Each nation has its own unique food culture, which determines a person's lifestyle, health and appearance. Each country lives in a different time zone, adheres to different climates and lives at a different pace of life, based on such factors, the time of meals and the diet of each nation differs from each other.

The main part.

The concept of tourism. "Tourism is all kinds of free movement of people from their place of permanent residence and work, as well as a service sector created to meet the needs arising from these movements. (Hague Declaration on Tourism, 1989)" ^{[3, p. 4]} Tourism is also one of the highly profitable sectors of the world economy, and the factors that influence its development are political, social, economic factors, the spread of culture and education, successes in the development of transport, and the development of the media. For the successful development of tourism, the main conditions are natural resources, infrastructure, material base, transport services and hospitality resources.

Tourism is widely popular in the modern world, almost every second person has ever left their locality. Especially in recent years, when most countries have begun to promote tourism and many routes have already been explored by travelers, travel has become a part of our lives. At the same time, as the popularity of tourism is growing rapidly, competition between tourist countries is also increasing.   

Technologies of gastronomic tourism. Gastronomic tourism began to gain momentum about ten years ago. Consequently, this kind of tourism has not been developed before, especially in Russia. Gastronomic tourism is called a trip, the purpose of which is to familiarize with the national peculiarities of the cuisine of that country, methods of cooking and increase the level of knowledge in the culinary business. The term "culinary tourism" was introduced by L. Longo, Associate Professor of the Department of Folk Culture at Bowling Green University, Ohio (USA) in 1998. He believed that full acquaintance with a foreign culture takes place precisely through the national cuisine.

The total inbound and domestic tourist flow in 2014 amounted to 8.5 thousand tourists. According to experts, by 2016, the inbound and domestic tourist flow will increase to 20 thousand tourists per year, and by 2020, tourist flows will reach 60 thousand tourists per year. In recent years, there has been a tendency to increase the share of domestic tourism. Experts predict a faster growth of domestic tourism in the coming years, due to the high cost of air travel. ^{[2, p. 19]}

Meeting the needs of tourists when consuming tourist products is a social and managerial procedure. That is, in order to promote the food culture of the Yakut ethnic groups based on gastronomic tourism technologies, it is necessary to start by searching for the needs of the tourist services market. As often happens, tourists themselves do not know exactly what they want, following this it is worth building the needs of the tourist themselves. This is the management procedure, that is, taking advantage of the tourist's uncertainty, usually in the tourism industry a certain image of the product being sold is created, during which the needs of the tourist are formed and a desire to buy a tourist product appears. The next principle of promotion is the formation of conditions. After creating an image of the product being sold, it is worth making sure that the created image matches the real one.

According to the results of a study by the RBC group. Market research." The demand for loyalty programs has been identified.

Restaurant market trends

1. Reducing the depth of the check.

2. The pursuit of discounts, the demand for loyalty programs.

3. Development of network projects.

4. Democratization of chain restaurants.

5. Retail versus restaurants.

6. The uniqueness and development of social networks.

7. The growth of the delivery market. ^[7].

 Reducing the depth of the check is more suitable for large restaurants than fast food outlets. In restaurants, people save on alcoholic beverages and desserts. Very often, large companies of guests order shared meals, which leads to the fact that portion dishes with a cost above the average do not go on sale and reduce the market capacity.

 The results showed that 56% of Russians use promotions and special offers if they like the offer. That is, we come to the conclusion that it is important not only to offer something to attract customers, but also the content of the offer. Will the consumer want to take advantage of such an offer?

Statistics show that even with a smaller increase in the openings of catering enterprises, there is a stable growth of network projects.

On average, a Russian buys ready-made food in a store twice a month, and visits a restaurant 10 times. That is, 20% of the traffic goes to retail. Over the years, people begin to prefer buying ready-made meals in stores and spending evenings at home than going out to restaurants.

Also, 57% of potential visitors search for their websites and official pages before visiting a catering company, 20% leave positive feedback on social networks, 15% actively use mobile applications of establishments. The most popular of all social networks among Russians are Vkontakte and Instagram. If you count the total number of subscribers to the pages of catering enterprises in Vkontakte, it turns out that 4.5 million Russians follow the pages, and Burger King is the leader. And on Instagram, 1.2 million Russians follow the pages of establishments, and Black Star Burger has the largest number of subscribers.

In recent years of technical development, home delivery aggregators have been actively developing. The share of orders through mobile applications was 30% in 2017, and 90% is projected in 2022. In Yakutsk, the most popular are: eda.ykt, foodboom, Dodo Pizza, etc. Most of the consumers who use delivery services order using the Instagram application.

Potential gastrotourists are primarily foreign tourists who wish to join the culture of the country through its national cuisine. Secondly, these are tourists who came for the purpose of training, master classes, etc., and thirdly, these are representatives of travel agencies traveling to explore this tourist destination to expand their business through the introduction of such tours.

The format of gastronomic tourism is close to individual, as gastronourists demand more independence and independence. The main element of the technology of gastronomic tourism is its development. At the same time, a careful selection of host catering establishments is carried out, the quality of food services is evaluated and the menu is calculated for each category of consumers. Special attention is paid to ensuring that the quality of cooking is at the highest level and in accordance with the traditions of the people. When serving foreign guests, a menu in English is welcome and the staff must perform the additional role of a "gastronomic guide". It is very important that the price range corresponds to the money spent on it. The hotel should also highlight the theme of national cuisine, for example, the presence of traditional dishes on the menu attached to the hotel catering company. So even a simple tourist may be interested in the national cuisine of the country he visits.  

The food culture of the Yakut ethnic groups. Although the Yakut cuisine is still not well studied, the national cuisine of Yakutia itself is very peculiar and different, but the basis of food is milk and meat. Dairy products occupy a special place in the food culture of the Yakut ethnic groups. From dairy products, Yakuts prepare a drink koumiss, cottage cheese, sorat, sour cream, etc. Meat products are consumed: beef, horse meat, pork, venison – mainly in its natural form. The main methods of heat treatment of meat are cooking and frying. Yakuts also eat a lot of dishes made from fresh or frozen fish. Stroganina is one of the delicacies of the north. Harsh climatic conditions have determined the habit of dense side dishes, for example, from cereals and pasta. If meat products are popular, then vegetables and fruits are not particularly in demand, since climatic conditions do not allow them to be grown in winter, and those brought from outside the republic often deteriorate on the road. Milk tea is served from drinks on the table, and cranberry juice in summer.

Local catering establishments that specialize in the national Yakut cuisine. Basically, there are enough public catering enterprises in Yakutsk that promote Yakut cuisine: "Mahtal", "Toto-Hana", "Chochur-Muran", "Mammoth", the ethnographic complex "Atlas Manor", "Lena Dawns", "Tygyn Darkhan" and so on. Next, we will analyze the establishments serving Yakut dishes, using the example of three of the most famous catering enterprises in Yakutsk.

The Makhtal Restaurant is the first Center of Yakut Cuisine in the capital of Yakutia, which is designed in the national style from the menu to the interior. "Makhtal" was founded in 2013, located in the city center, on the territory of the historical and architectural complex "Old Town"." ^[5] Winner of the main prize of the gastronomic festival "Taste of Yakutia" for several years. In addition to the official website, the restaurant has an Instagram page with 20 thousand subscribers. Promotions are held through the page from time to time, such as: discounts on birthdays, discounts on desserts after 18:00, each guest is given a certificate from the Zolotnik jewelry salon for the amount of the 1999 check, dinners on the outdoor veranda in summer, sweepstakes with valuable prizes, etc. In addition to serving Yakut cuisine, the restaurant offers its guests original cuisine and its own products of ready-made products that you can take with you. The restaurant's websites are beautifully designed, and TV commercials are often produced on local TV channels.

The restaurant "River. Lake. Forest." is a family restaurant of modern Yakut cuisine, where dishes are served exclusively from natural, environmentally friendly Yakut products. There is a wide range of dishes from Yakut fish, mushrooms, berries and game. The restaurant is compact - it has 55 seats. The founder of the institution is Nikolai Gabyshev, an experienced process engineer of the restaurant business in Yakutsk.  The average check of the restaurant is 1500-2000 rubles. If you study the reviews, the guests leave satisfied and well-fed, they always praise the interior and dishes. The institution actively maintains an Instagram page.

The Muus Haya restaurant complex is a cultural and entertainment center that has been in existence since 2006. The CEO is His Petrovich Makarov, the founder and owner of the Clean Water brand. The idea of opening this complex was to introduce young people to spiritual culture, instill respect for the traditions and customs of the Yakut people, maintain visitors' interest in sports and develop knowledge about their native land. ^[6] The interior of the building was carefully thought out by the founder himself, and has several awards for beautiful interior design. The national attributes of the halls attract the interest of not only foreign and nonresident guests, but also local residents. 4 halls are often occupied by corporate events, team building events, business conversations and just friendly meetings. The complex offers services such as a bar, a bowling alley, and a photo exhibition of famous photographers.  The restaurant complex has a convenient official website with an attractive interface and an Instagram page.

The development of gastronomic tourism in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). For the development of gastronomic tourism in our republic, it is necessary to understand why its national cuisine is not popular among the residents of the republic, will a visiting guest show interest in food culture if it is not in demand in his homeland? Now young people are more interested in pan-Asian cuisine, restaurants of Korean, Chinese and Japanese cuisine are increasingly opening, and meanwhile restaurants of Yakut national cuisine are closing. Such establishments serving Yakut dishes are now more open to meetings of the older generation and foreign guests, but the flow of customers is not growing, which is why many establishments are going bankrupt, and new ones do not see the prospect of opening such a business. Such enterprises that promote not only Yakut dishes, but also dishes of other nations, that is, owners of mixed cuisine, remain afloat.

Factors that should be taken into account when promoting catering establishments of national cuisine:

1. Culinary skills training for new chefs at field courses, where they can expand their knowledge and apply it in their kitchen. There is also an acquaintance with chefs from other regions;

2. Expanding the national cuisine with new dishes without losing its essence and traditions. It is possible to attract gastronomic tourists not only with traditional dishes, it is important to have originality. That is, a tourist should be aware that only in a certain area one can try a particular dish. This increases the level of value;

3. Improving the quality of dishes. The production of high-quality domestic raw materials should not be lost. Ordering foreign raw materials brings more loss, and also has a tendency to change the taste of the dish, which leads to a discrepancy with traditional recipes.

Gastronomic festival. Gastronomic festivals are held to achieve the above goals. The gastronomic festival is one of the forms of gastronomic tourism. They make a certain contribution to the development of the territory as a tourist destination, contribute to attracting tourists, forming and promoting the brand of the territory. ^[1]

In order to popularize local products, raw materials, national cuisines of the Yakut ethnic groups, as well as to share the experience of catering workers and professional realization of participants among catering enterprises, the gastronomic festival “Taste of Yakutia” has been held for the sixth year. During the week, participants must submit a “Special offer” to the menu of establishments – an individual tasting gastronomic set, at a fixed price, which will include competitive national dishes prepared from local raw materials and products. ^[8] The competition itself is held within the framework of the Winter Begins with Yakutia festival and already has the national award Russian Event Awards as a successful event tourism project attracting tourists from other regions and countries. The organizers of the competition are the Yakutsk District Administration and the Hospitality Association of the Republic.

In 2022, the participants of the festival were: "Own company", "Carlson", "Roof", "Muus Haya", "River. Lake. Forest.", "Meat is", "Square", "Kitchen", "Tygyn Darkhan", "Atlasov Manor", "Makhtal". The famous chef, gastroenterologist, holder of the title of International del Chef Rashid Rakhmanov was invited as a special guest.

Gastronomic tourism in the republic has been developing rapidly in recent years. In Yakutia, the stroganina festival is held annually, which is already among the brands of Russia. Many people from all over the world come to Yakutsk to enjoy this event. The Sakha-As organization annually participates in several international festivals of gastronomic tourism and takes prizes. Innokenty Tarbakhov himself, a process engineer at the Tygyn Darkhan restaurant (Yakutsk), one of the founders of the Sakha-As organization, is interested in promoting the food culture of the Yakut ethnic groups based on gastronomic tourism. In his opinion, ^[10] it is worth promoting Yakut kumis. After the Guinness World Record for simultaneous drinking of koumiss was set, many tourists began to come to try this drink.

Such festivals and events promote the food culture of the Yakut ethnic groups, inform local residents about the Yakut cuisine and the cuisine of the peoples of the North and improve the professional skills of public catering workers.

Conclusions.

The national cuisine of each nation contributes to the preservation of authenticity, being an important part of culture. Traditional nutrition not only helps to satisfy the need for food, but also affects the mentality of the people. For centuries, our ancestors have passed on special traditions of cooking, this is what brings people together, what binds spirituality and the connection between generations. Therefore, it is important to promote the food culture of your ethnic group, popularize it at the national and international levels and strive to ensure that many people come to our republic in order to taste the taste of Yakutia.

Thus, the study showed that the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) is one of the most actively developing regions of Russia. Due to the rich recreational resources and centuries-old cultural and historical heritage, observing the dynamics of the tourism potential of the Russian Federation, it can be concluded that tourism can become a highly profitable and priority sector of the economy of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). To achieve such goals, it is necessary to study the consumer, diversify the cuisine and take more part in gastronomic events.