258 Chapter 6
tourism was worthy of the socialist label. “Correctly organized and well-
conducted excursions, outings, and travels ensure active rest, strengthen and
steel one’s health, develop and expand one’s worldview, cultivate courage,
strength, dexterity, and endurance, and enrich a person’s spirit. In a word,
they cultivate all those qualities that are necessary for the building of com-
munism,” opined a tourist offi cial from the Spartak sports society in 1966.^144
Proper knowledge-based Soviet tourism inculcated a respect for nature
and helped to expand the reach of science. At Lake Seliger, site of one of the
oldest, largest, and most popular tourist bases in central Russia, scientifi c ex-
perts led daily training hikes to introduce campers to the botanical and aquat-
ic features of the region. Thus instructed, the tourists would be able to better
understand their surroundings when they embarked on their Tourist badge
hikes. Special geological tours in Siberia and in the Urals allowed tourists to
collect specimens for scientifi c research, just as they had in the 1930s.^145
Knowledge of place also fi gured prominently in the goals and itineraries of
Soviet tourism. Whether on a cruise ship, a tourist train, or trekking through
the mountains, learning about the localities added to the tourist’s store of
knowledge of country. On board the Caucasus-bound train Druzhba, tour-
ists heard radio broadcasts (in lieu of printed guidebooks) that described the
regions to be visited, giving advice about museums and exhibits to see. They
further consolidated their knowledge by recording what they saw in photo-
graphs and diaries. “Completing our captivating trip on the Black Sea, whose
purpose was to study our native land,” wrote a group on a 1968 cruise, “we
augmented our suitcase of knowledge, gained strength and new impressions,
and at the same time had a marvelous rest.” Tourism offi cials continued to
encourage tourists to experience new regions of the country and not only
the Caucasus or Crimea: all Soviet people needed to visit Siberia in order
to expand their worldview, said one offi cial from the eastern Urals city of
Cheliabinsk. Residents from Central Asia would fi nd their pride in their local
landscapes complemented by viewing the beauties of the Caucasus and the
Black Sea.^146
Tourism produced a patriotic knowledge of country, as the Communist
Party reminded citizens in its landmark 1969 decree on the reinvigoration of
tourist travel. “Familiarity with monuments of history and culture, with the
nature of one’s native region, with the achievements of the economy, science,
and culture facilitate the inculcation in Soviet people of a love of their native
land, and loyalty to the revolutionary, military, and laboring traditions of our- “Rest is all very well,” GARF, f. 9520, op. 1, d. 632, l. 110; “Correctly organized,”
d. 921, l. 123. - TsAGM, f. 28, op. 1, d. 6, l. 39; GARF, f. 9520, op. 1, d. 578, l. 22; Turistskie tropy ,
vol. 3 (Moscow, 1960), 222–230. - TsAGM, f. 28, op. 1, d. 31, l. 73; GAGS, f. 261, op. 1, d. 41, ll. 10ob., 20ob., 22, 24
(quote); GARF, f. 9520, op. 1, d. 381, l. 25; GAGS, f. 261, op. 1, d. 1 (tourist train comment
books, 1964), l. 81.