HOW RURAL PEOPLE PERCEPT ETHNO-CULTURAL PROJECTS: EFFORTS OF RESEARCH IN THE TERRITORY OF UDMURTIA
The article substantiates the necessity of a complex research to show how ethno-cultural projects affect the rural areas development, primarily from the point of view of these projects perception by the residents of rural areas. Rural administrations and regional authorities' willingness to develop ethno-cultural tourism requires bringing the investments into the rural areas. However, economic feasibility of such projects is not always evident, and their potential is often exaggerated. In case of Udmurtia, the initiative of projects development does not always come from the regional and local authorities, the projects may also be initiated by rural activists trying to develop their own social and economic potential through accumulation of internal, and attraction of external, resources. In this situation, the position of common rural residents remains unclear although they may be involved in projects implementation. The article provides a complex method of evaluation of ethno-cultural projects perception by rural people. The article shows that general support manifests in passive approval of actions and minimum participation in the projects. At the same time, local people almost never accumulate the resources that may be generated by tourist traffic. High general level of positive perception of projects results mainly from the hope to attract governmental financing. People with higher and incomplete higher education, retired people, and people working in culture and commerce mostly support the touristic projects; ethnic origin does not affect the level of interest in projects development.