Problems of Legal Regulation of Rural Tourism in the Context of Sustainable Rural Development

Tropina Dar'ya Vladimirovna PhD in Law PhD, Associate Professor of the Department of Economic Security and Law Russian State Agrarian University - Moscow Timiryazev Agricultural Academy 27434, Russia, Mosca, ul. Timiryazevskaya, 49 tropina@rgau-msha.ru

Sergeev Dmitrii Gennad'evich Postgraduate student of the Department of Economic Security and Law Russian State Agrarian University - Moscow Timiryazev Agricultural Academy 127434, Russia, Moscow, ul. Timiryazevskaya, 49 tropina@rgau-msha.ru

For the first time, the role of rural tourism in providing conditions for the development and diversification of the rural economy was mentioned in the Strategy for Sustainable Development of Rural Territories of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2030 (hereinafter referred to as the Strategy). In particular, the Strategy states that Russia has unique natural-climatic and cultural-historical features that allow the development of almost all popular types of tourism, one of which is rural tourism. The share of rural tourism in Russia is still small, but Russia has all the prerequisites for the development of this type of tourism.

Rural tourism is not only a separate type of tourism that actively develops domestic tourism in Russia, but also contributes to the sustainable development of rural areas, since through the development of rural tourism, issues of employment of rural population, rural infrastructure development, revival and promotion of ethnocultural characteristics of the respective territories are solved.

Rural tourism can be developed in all regions of Russia, as the full potential of rural areas has not yet been fully realized anywhere, while each territory has its own unique features,

The Strategy calls the creation of agrotourist clusters, holding educational events for agricultural producers planning to provide services in rural tourism, promotion in the media of the best experience and the most successful projects for the development of rural tourism the main directions of increasing the tourist attractiveness of rural areas.

The strategy asserts that Russia has every chance to become one of the world leaders in rural tourism in the future (Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 151-r dated 02.02.2015 "On approval of the Strategy for Sustainable Development of Rural areas of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2030" // SPS Consultant Plus)

At the same time, it is necessary to agree with the opinion of individual scientists who believe that in order to achieve the goal of rural development, a clearer algorithm of the legal system of the Russian Federation as a whole, a kind of regulatory matrix is needed ^[2].

It is the legal regulation of rural tourism that is currently under active development.  The concept of "rural tourism" is relatively new in domestic legislation. It was introduced  Federal Law No. 318-FZ of 02.07.2021, which amended two basic laws in this area at once. Firstly, an amendment was made to Federal Law No. 264-FZ of December 29, 2006 "On the Development of Agriculture". Support and development of rural tourism have been added to the main areas of state support in the field of agricultural development (clause 15 of Article 7).

At the same time, the concept of "rural tourism" was added to the basic concepts of Federal Law No. 132-FZ of November 24, 1996 "On the basics of tourist activity in the Russian Federation" - tourism involving visits to rural areas, small towns with a population of up to thirty thousand people, for recreation, familiarization with the traditional way of life, familiarization with the activities of agricultural producers and (or) participation in agricultural work without obtaining material benefits with the possibility of providing temporary accommodation, leisure, sightseeing and other services. Activities for the provision of services in the field of rural tourism are carried out by agricultural producers in accordance with the requirements established by the Government of the Russian Federation.

  In addition, the law expanded the powers of authorities at all levels in the field of rural tourism. The powers of the state authorities of the Russian Federation in the field of tourism included the establishment of requirements for the provision of services in the field of rural tourism and for accommodation facilities used for the provision of services in the field of rural tourism in rural areas. The implementation of measures to support priority areas of tourism development in the subjects of the Russian Federation, including rural tourism, has been added to the powers of the state authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The rights of local self-government bodies to create favorable conditions for the development of tourism included the implementation of measures to develop priority areas of tourism development in the territories of municipalities, including rural tourism.

         Taking into account the consolidation of the concept of rural tourism in legislation, at the end of 2021, amendments were made to the State Program for the Development of Agriculture and Regulation of Agricultural Products, Raw Materials and Food Markets in terms of establishing Rules for the provision and distribution of subsidies from the federal budget to the budgets of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation for the development of rural tourism. These Rules establish the goals, conditions and procedure for the provision and distribution of subsidies from the federal budget to the budgets of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation in order to co-finance the expenditure obligations of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation to provide agricultural producers (with the exception of personal subsidiary farms) belonging to the category of "small enterprise" or "microenterprise" in accordance with the Federal Law "On the Development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises". medium-sized enterprises in the Russian Federation", grants for the development of rural tourism within the framework of the federal project "Development of rural Tourism". The grant is called "Agrotourism" and can be provided to "applicants" - agricultural producers (with the exception of personal subsidiary farms) belonging to the category of "small enterprise" or "microenterprise" in accordance with the Federal Law "On the Development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in the Russian Federation" dated July 24, 2007 No. 209-FZ, registered and carrying out activities in the rural territory or in the territory of the rural agglomeration of the subject of the Russian Federation, undertaking to carry out activities for at least 5 years in the rural territory or in the territory of the rural agglomeration from the date of receipt of the grant "Agrotourism" and to achieve the performance indicators provided for by the rural tourism development project (Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of 14.07.2012 N 717 "On State program for the development of agriculture and regulation of agricultural products, raw materials and food markets" // SPS Consultant Plus)

However, there is an urgent problem in the formulation of the concept of "applicant", which consists in the fact that an agricultural producer registered not in a rural area, but carrying out activities on it, cannot count on state support in the field of rural tourism. Modern legislation allows conducting entrepreneurial activity in the field of agriculture, including without the formation of a legal entity, by concluding an agreement on the establishment of a peasant (farmer) farm (KFH), the head of which is an individual entrepreneur ^[4].  As practice shows, this is a fairly common case when an individual entrepreneur registered at his place of residence in an urban district is the head of a farm in a rural area near the city. Moreover, even if you wish to register directly on the territory of your agricultural production, it will be impossible for a farmer to do this, since the construction and registration of a residential building on agricultural land may be prohibited in a separate subject of the Russian Federation.

To receive a grant, it is necessary to submit a rural tourism development project - a document (business plan) drawn up in a form approved by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation, providing for the implementation of measures aimed at the creation and (or) development of rural tourism facilities, which includes, among other things, the costs of implementing a rural tourism development project provided for in the list of costs, the financial support of which is allowed to be carried out at the expense of the "Agrotourism" grant, a financial and economic justification providing for a payback period of the rural tourism development project not exceeding 5 years, planned performance indicators, the obligation to achieve which is included in the agreement on the provision of the "Agrotourism" grant to the recipient of funds. The cases and procedure for making changes to the rural tourism development project are determined by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation.

The competitive selection of projects is carried out in accordance with the procedure established by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation. Projects for the development of rural tourism are submitted for selection to the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation by the authorized body of the subject of the Russian Federation, in the rural territory or the territory of the rural agglomeration of which it is planned to implement a project for the development of rural tourism.

The Agrotourism grant may be provided to the applicant for the implementation of a rural tourism development project in the amount of 3 to 10 million rubles, depending on the amount of own funds that the agricultural producer is willing to spend on the project. The grant is granted once.

The target areas of the Agrotourism grant expenditure are defined by the Order of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation No. 116 dated March 02, 2022, according to which the funds of the Agrotourism grant can be spent on

infrastructure development, landscaping, creating a barrier-free environment for people with limited mobility, communications, purchase of furniture, equipment, etc. (Order of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation dated 02.03.2022 No. 116 "On approval of the list of target areas of expenditure of the grant "Agrotourism" // SPS Consultant Plus)         

It should also be noted that the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated 20.10.2022 No. 759 "On some issues of public administration in the field of tourism and tourism activities" abolished the Federal Agency for Tourism (Rosturizm) and its powers were transferred to the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, in connection with which a number of draft regulatory legal acts in the field of rural tourism, prepared by Rostourism, and were not accepted. Therefore, at present, when organizing the provision of services in rural tourism, it is possible to be guided by regulatory legal acts from related industries. So, the laws regulating the provision of tourist services include:

- Federal Law No. 132-FZ of November 24, 1996 "On the Basics of Tourist Activity in the Russian Federation";

- Federal Law No. 69-FZ of December 21, 1994 "On Fire Safety";

- Federal Law No. 52-FZ of March 30, 1999 "On sanitary and epidemiological welfare of the population";

- Federal Law No. 184-FZ of December 27, 2002 "On Technical Regulation" and separate Technical regulations.

The list of subordinate regulations includes:

- Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 1853 of November 18, 2020 "On Approval of the Rules for the Provision of Hotel Services in the Russian Federation";

- Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 1515 of September 21, 2020 "On Approval of the Rules for the Provision of Public Catering services";

- Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 1619 dated December 07, 2019 "On Approval of the Rules for Granting Subsidies from the Federal Budget for Grant Support of Public and Business Initiatives Aimed at the Development of Domestic and Inbound Tourism";

- Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 872-r dated May 5, 2018 "On Approval of the concept of the program "Development of Domestic and Inbound Tourism in the Russian Federation (2019 - 2025)";

- Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 2129-r dated September 20, 2019 "On approval of the Strategy for the Development of Tourism in the Russian Federation for the period up to 2035".

- Order of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation No. 540 dated September 01, 2014 "On Approval of the Classifier of Types of Permitted Use of Land plots";

- Resolution of the Chief State Sanitary Doctor of the Russian Federation No. 32 dated October 27, 2020 "On Approval of sanitary and epidemiological rules and norms of the SanPiN 2.3/2.4.3590-20 "Sanitary and epidemiological requirements for the organization of public catering of the population", etc.

         However, it should be borne in mind that not all terms that are used in the tourism industry can be used when informing about the provision of services in rural tourism.

Thus, the Federal Law "On the Basics of Tourist Activity in the Russian Federation" established that hotels do not include accommodation facilities used for the provision of services in the field of rural tourism in rural areas. You can use the concept of "accommodation facility", given in the same law - a property complex that includes a building or part of a building, premises, equipment and other property and is used for temporary accommodation and temporary residence of individuals. Such accommodation facilities in rural tourism can be of various types: rural guest houses, farmhouses, cottages, rural huts, huts, chalets, bungalows, fisherman's houses, as well as traditional dwellings of small indigenous peoples of Russia (yurt, balagan, saklya, senek, hut, chum, yaranga and others), including including those that are not objects of capital construction. The requirements for accommodation facilities are currently set  By Order of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation No. 617 dated November 11, 2022 "On approval of the requirements for accommodation facilities used for the provision of services in the field of rural tourism in rural areas", which come into force on March 1, 2023.

The requirements provide for the presence of lighting at the central entrance and approaches to the accommodation facilities, signage containing information provided for by the Law of the Russian Federation No. 2300-1 "On Consumer Rights Protection" of February 7, 1992, internal lighting (including emergency lighting), water supply, heating systems, ventilation systems, sanitary facilities for general use. Strict requirements are established for the area of the premises for the accommodation of tourists and their equipment with furniture, bedding, towels, as well as information materials. At the same time, this document makes an exception for national traditional dwellings of indigenous small-numbered peoples of the Russian Federation, indicating that these requirements are optional for them.

The above requirements were criticized at the project stage, comments and suggestions were sent by interested members of the public and agricultural producers, however, for the most part, they were not taken into account. As some authors correctly point out, agro-industrial tours, as a rule, are one-day tours or so-called weekend tours. Attracting tourists for a longer time is still limited due to insufficient funds to accommodate tourists ^[5]. And given the new requirements, many agricultural producers may refuse such an additional income item altogether, since these requirements may not be feasible for existing rural accommodation facilities.

Also, the problem, in our opinion, is bringing rural accommodation facilities under a "single standard", which can lead to the loss of the essence and meaning of such tourism, which implies a certain lack of comfort and the willingness of tourists to a certain "extreme".

As for the traditional dwellings of small indigenous peoples of Russia and exceptions for such dwellings in terms of compliance with the requirements, the Order does not list the types of such dwellings and leaves the list open.  At the same time, the traditional dwellings of the indigenous peoples of Russia are not taken into account in the Order at all.

It is also necessary to focus attention on services other than accommodation in the field of rural tourism, such as excursion services and catering services, the safety requirements of which are established by national standards regulating the organization of tourist services, active recreation, sightseeing services, requirements for the safety of tourists.

Agricultural producers can independently study these standards and try to organize a full range of tourist services on their own, but this will require a lot of time, which agricultural producers, as a rule, do not have enough even for their main activities. Therefore, most often farmers are limited to displays and the process of agricultural production, tastings and walks around the neighborhood.

To promote their services in rural tourism, an agricultural producer can use the services of an aggregator. Recently, there has been an increase in various aggregators and mobile applications that allow collecting a large amount of information on tourist sites and destinations, which caused a fairly large "wave" of independent travel. ^[1]

As a rule, in this case, a user agreement is concluded between the owner of the aggregator and the agricultural producer, the terms of which, as a rule, are set by the owner of the aggregator himself, the agricultural producer only has the opportunity to join the conditions without additional approvals.

In conclusion, I would like to note that rural tourism is not only an important vector for the development of the tourism industry in Russia, but also an opportunity to receive additional income for small and medium–sized businesses in the field of agriculture. However, all these relations should unite the achievement of the main goal - meeting the basic living needs of the population of rural areas (life support) on the basis of integrated and sustainable socio-economic development ^[3]. And this is possible, in our opinion, only with proper and comprehensive regulatory and legal regulation that takes into account the specifics of the provision of services in the field of rural tourism by agricultural producers.