Tourist potential of gastronomic festivals in Udmurtia (the case of the “world dumpling day” festival)
This article explores the potential of gastronomic festivals in Udmurtia. The current crisis in the tourism industry caused by the pandemic can be used as a point of growth for domestic event tourism. For regions that do not have the opportunity to enjoy a long holiday season due to their geographical position, a gastronomic festival may be a good option of a weekend break full of cultural experience. Despite a good choice of event-based gastronomic festivals in Udmurtia, residents and guests of the capital seem to know very little about them. The most famous "World Dumpling Day" festival held in Udmurtia since 2015 has become a brand, and yet, is not a full-fledged tourist product. The venue has been the same for 5 years, the festival events can't boast of a great variety either. The festival program is released late, which doesn't help travel companies to sell this event to tourists. As a result the interest and number of visitors drops every year, which is confirmed by the media content analysis. Over the past two (2018/2019) years, the number of positive reviews has also decreased significantly. A change of location and proper event promotion can revive the festival and make it a point of attraction for residents and guests of the capital alike. To determine the tourist opportunities of gastronomic festivals in the region, a face-to-face, individual, one-step expert survey was conducted. The survey respondents mentioned that not all gastronomic festivals in the region might have the potential for growth - it may make more sense to define two or three most interesting products and promote them. A pilot online questionnaire survey conducted among residents of Russian regions brought up a low level of awareness across country's residents about their resource potential, as well as lack of professional regional gastronomic brands promotion.