Tourist flow to Kapova Сave increased by 17% in 2020

In 2020, the number of visitors to the main tourist attraction of Bashkiria, the Shulgan-Tash (Kapova) Cave, increased by 17% compared to 2019 and amounted to 60 thousand people, the director of the museum-reserve Favzil Malikov told the agency. "This is despite the fact that in May and June, tourist activity was suspended," he recalled.

The tourist flow has been monitored since 2014, and on average, it grew by 7% annually. After the commissioning of the museum complex building (expected in June of this year; started in 2018; investments of the republican budget - 500 million rubles), an increase in tourist traffic is expected "by 30-40% within the first two years, and in five years we hope to attract up to 150 thousand tourists ", the director announced.

Simultaneously, with the building's construction, works on arranging its content were underway, Favzil Malikov said. A 3D model of the Kapova Cave is being created for the museum by French specialists. It is an issue not only of the original design but also necessary in the case of the cave closure for a certain period. Scientists insist on it in order to preserve the object.

"An appropriate infrastructure is needed to attract tourists. We have developed a master development plan. At the end of May, it will be presented at the House of the Republic. We will announce the search for investors for constructing a hotel, glamping sites, retail outlets. A brand book for printed and souvenir products has been developed, and we will start using it soon," the director of the museum said.

Since construction is prohibited on the reserve territory, a plot was allocated for the complex next to it. In 2020, one of the museum's main tourist problems was solved: a road was built from the highway to the reserve.