The story of a piece of Serbia in the Vladimir region and its founder, Fedor Stroev.
The Stroev family is creative and has an unusual history: each of the four of them is connected with the Balkans in their own way. Therefore, in January 2023, they decided to realize an old dream: to create a small ethnic village in the Vladimir region, where guests could get acquainted with Serbian traditions.
And yet — why Serbia?
The story begins back in the 1970s, when Ekaterina Stroeva, Fedor’s mother, went on her first trip abroad — it was Yugoslavia. The trip brought a lot of impressions and an unusual souvenir — a photo of the Serbian football team “Crvena Zvezda” with autographs of players who happened to meet on the street.
And in 1985, the family moved to the Balkans after their father, journalist Anatoly Stroyev. For several years they got used to the new culture, and also got acquainted with the cuisine, traditions and sights. In the Balkans, Fedor went to kindergarten, and then to the first grade, where a Serbian boy became his best friend. The family returned to the USSR, but the love for Serbia and football has not gone away. Fyodor Stroev supports three sister clubs: Serbian Crvena Zvezda, Spartak Moscow and Olympiacos Greece — and travels to the games, including Serbia.
Fyodor was able to share his love and interest in the Balkans with his wife. Evgenia Stroeva even agreed to change the concept of the wedding: instead of the planned restaurant with a large number of guests, a chamber celebration for two in the Balkans turned out, which brought a huge amount of emotions. And later, Eugenia became the ideological inspirer of the camping project “Little Serbia” (or, as it is called in Serbian, “Mala Srbija”).
Initially, Fyodor Stroev wanted to build a Russian village in Serbia, and thanks to local friends he even had the opportunity. But the coronavirus pandemic ruined these plans, and Fedor decided to change everything: “We thought: since we can’t go to Serbia now, then Serbia will be here. That’s how the idea was born to go down a difficult path — after all, it’s not to say that this path is easy.”
What is special about “Little Serbia”?
Both Fedor and Evgenia worked in the hotel business before the opening of Little Serbia, so they had an idea about the hospitality industry and its main trends. That’s why they decided not to make “Little Serbia” glamping. Fyodor recalls it this way: “It’s fashionable to open glamping sites now, but we immediately thought that we would be camping. And our first guests, when they arrived, said: “It’s so cool here, and you don’t need a lot of tents here.” That’s how they suggested to us that we become a chamber campsite.”
The campsite is not designed for a large number of guests — there can be a maximum of about 20. Everyone is comfortable, no one bothers anyone. Fyodor Stroev defines the target audience as follows: “Most of the guests are either young people who love to travel and learn new things, or married couples with children. The latter really like it here, because, according to them, wherever you come, there are parties all night, and you won’t stop especially with children.” And in “Little Serbia” it is always quiet, cozy and hospitable.
Of course, there are also difficulties: for example, there is no constant electricity in the campsite. At the moment, it is powered by a generator at certain hours, but the founders are doing everything possible to connect the light. And Fedor finds advantages in this: “Even the administration told us: you are in nature and for a digital detox. And the guests really don’t come to us to sit on their phones and watch TV. 90% of people actually get tired of the city, and they want to go to nature and just take a walk, relax, be quiet.”
Another important task of the campsite is to unite initiative and creative people who want to develop the Vladimir region. Many people take part in the events that take place on the territory of “Little Serbia” — farmers, artisans, craftsmen, artists. Fyodor Stroev says that this is mainly the older generation, but there are also young people interested in the development of the region, especially this area: “We are the edge of the Vladimir region, one might say, even forgotten. We have wild nature, I saw deer here quite recently. This is an ecologically clean area, there are no industries nearby, only nature. And, of course, I want to leave it in the same form, but also to improve it. We are now planning with our colleagues, who are a couple of kilometers away, to make an eco-trail. Now we are trying a winter option so that people can ski. And I think our biggest progress is bringing people together, we’ve kind of energized them.”
Balkan cordiality and hospitality
Fyodor Stroev believes that the similarity of the two countries is not limited to one faith and a similar flag, but in terms of hospitality Serbia is much more open and attractive: tourists are accepted there not as guests, but rather as friends: “You came to visit someone once, and they tell you: do not call and negotiate You can just come as if you’ve known each other for 20 years. And the Serbs will always be glad to see you.”
The Stroev family decided to adopt this feature of Balkan hospitality for their business. The owners of the campsite meet the guests themselves, can sit with them at the table, tell them something interesting about Serbia, celebrate the holidays. Sometimes friends from the Balkans come to the campsite and also spend time with other tourists.
When asked how residents of the Vladimir region react to the fact that they have their own piece of Serbia in the region, Fedor replies that basically everyone is happy and shows active interest, especially artisans. The most important event of the outgoing year for “Little Serbia” is the harvest festival, which took place in autumn and turned out to be very large—scale. Among the guests were local farmers with their products, handmade jewelry and chocolate manufacturers, ceramists, blacksmiths, folk performers from different regions and craftsmen from the village of artisans near Rybinsk. “They are usually in Pereslavl-Zalessky exhibits their products, but after the harvest festival they said they would no longer, now only with us,” Fyodor laughs.
Such holidays and events, of course, attract not only those who can put their products on sale, but also ordinary residents of the region who are very interested in what is happening. Fyodor Stroev says: “We made a holiday just like in Russia — we had contests, people walked on stilts, pulled ropes, everyone talked, got acquainted, rested, tasted Serbian cuisine, and we became friends with many of the guests of the holiday. They came with children and dogs — by the way, we are dog-friendly, dogs can and should be brought to us. We recently took a dog from the shelter ourselves, and now she lives with us, she has plenty of space here.”
There are also those who have questions about ethnocamping — for example, a resident of the village next door did not like that construction had begun on the territory, and her own business, renting houses, had competitors. But, talking about it, Fedor again does not lose optimism and true Serbian cordiality: “She messed up in every way, called the forest guard, other authorities, but thanks to her I got to know all the right people from government agencies and villagers. We help them periodically, do something, and they treat us well too. And then that woman had a fire, and she came to us to ask for help. Everyone asked me — why are you helping? And I can’t do it any other way, my parents raised me that way.”
Secrets of mutual understanding and support in the family business
When it comes to family business, it is not always clear how the founders manage to come to compromises and not mix personal relationships with business ones. If everyone in the family somehow has their own view on how business processes should take place, what helps to negotiate? Fyodor Stroev answers honestly: “At first, my wife and I fought several times a day. The parents also have their own vision, and everyone tried to insist on their own. Now, of course, it’s easier than before, we go through trial and error — we all sit down together and discuss how to try to do something, what exactly won’t work, and what might work. Besides, the family believes that I have the last word anyway.”
Organizing the first camping holidays also turned out to be an emotionally difficult process. “Of course, everyone was on edge,” says Fedor, “and then one farmer told us: guys, why are you fighting? You do it primarily for yourself, so have fun. And when we decided to let go of the situation — if it works, cool, it won’t work, it’s okay — we immediately managed to calm down and enjoy what was happening, and the guests began to leave us delighted.”
In the future, the Stroev family plans to expand the network of Balkan ethnic villages — for example, to make a small Croatia or a small Bulgaria, but so far this remains at the level of an idea. In the near future, we plan to develop the entire acquired territory: at the moment, “Little Serbia” occupies 2 hectares out of 8. But the format will still remain a chamber format: a maximum of 3 motorhomes, 5 tents and several houses. Fyodor Stroev argues this way: “It’s easier for both us and the guests. In any case, there are a lot of people in the city, you get tired of it, and if there are a lot of people at the campsite, then the guests will not rest.” The profit in this case will be less, but the Stroev family considers the comfort and convenience of guests who return here to be a priority — campsites in Serbia work according to this principle. Fedor is grateful for this work in the hotel business — it gives a new perspective on things that are useful now.
“This is my dream, and you can’t betray a dream”
Speaking about what is the most important and valuable thing in the profession, Fyodor Stroev notes that his main goal is to tell people about Serbia, to show this country while in Of Russia. It’s difficult, but definitely worth it and gives you an experience that will come in handy anyway. And nature gives you the strength to do all this, next to which Fedor once wanted to stay forever: “It keeps me afloat and stimulates me. The farm and everything that is here is a dream, and you can’t betray a dream. Of course, there are days when you realize that you don’t have any strength to do anything at all. And then you go to the sauna and reboot. What Muscovite can boast of going to a real sauna twice a week? And we go, and our guests too.”
Muscovites, by the way, did not reach “Little Serbia” this year, although the distance from the capital to the campsite is only 120 kilometers. But there were many guests from other regions — from Kostroma, Podolsk, Apatity, Leningrad region and even Khanty-Mansiysk. Fyodor laughs: “I tell my friends from Moscow — it feels like you are Serbs. For the Serbs, even 10 kilometers is already very far away, and they will not go anywhere.”
Finally, we ask Fedor what three associations related to Serbia come to his mind. And he replies, “Friendship and food. And, perhaps, the churches — they are very sincere there, and the faith is true and open.”
About the competition
The “Pro!” contest is held within the framework of the “Know our PRO” project. Its purpose is to introduce those who create domestic tourism today. You can find the stories of all the participants who announced themselves before October 31 on the project, as well as on the Profi pages.Travel.
At the end of December, the organizers of the Know Our PRO project will choose three people who will receive additional prizes: the opportunity to present their project/company at the online exhibition “Know Our: Summer 2024” (2 invitations). One of the participants will receive the main prize — 5 days of rest for two at the Sochi Park Hotel from the tour operator Anex.
Photo: from the personal archive of Fyodor Stroev
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