“To be or not to be”? Tourism development plans and the voice of the river

Abstract

The distinctiveness of the place located by the river is “sensed together” by locals and outsiders – the Amma River has an iconic status as the most beautiful and the cleanest river in the whole region of the Republic of Sakha Yakutia. The small village in the Churapcha District, with its dramatic watery scenery, picturesque natural surroundings, and sandy shores, has attracted more and more non-organized tourists in recent times. However, since 2007, the municipal and regional strategic plans for ‘developing’ the local tourism sector have endured on paper. These intentions are a matter of particular sensitivity in the community that strongly relates to the location’s distinct atmosphere, its genius loci, which holds itself firmly, and the local people explicitly shelter that. It is an affinity with their place, defined by the river’s omnipresence, which locals express by saying: “we are river-people”.

Keywords

• human – more-than-human relationship
• nature-based tourism
• river spirituality
• sense of place
• tourism development hesitance