Before Russia’s chairmanship in the Arctic Council, the head of Rostourism Zarina Doguzova paid a working visit to St. Petersburg and the Murmansk region to work out common approaches to the development of tourism in the Arctic regions.
In St. Petersburg, the head of Rostourism opened the First International Arctic Media Congress, which started within the framework of the Accessible Arctic International Forum in the northern capital and continued in Murmansk.
As noted by Doguzova, Arctic tourism is growing at an outstripping pace and Russia has prospects given the huge unrealized potential of the Arctic. Rostourism will begin work on a unified concept for the development of Arctic tourism, with common approaches and methodology, taking into account the tasks of preserving the Arctic ecosystems and at the same time on the socio-economic development of the Arctic regions.
Quality tourism products are already appearing in the Russian Arctic. You can buy a weekend tour to the Arctic, live in tents in Komi. In the Arctic regions, modern non-capital accommodation facilities, eco-trails, and good quality entertainment infrastructure appear. This year, for the first time in history, a modern cruise ship launched a route from Krasnoyarsk to Norilsk along the Yenisey with the opportunity to see the Putorana plateau. There are many offers departing from St. Petersburg, which is the gateway to the Russian North.
Now Rostourism has collected the main problematic issues related to the development of the Arctic tourism, which require immediate consideration, the head of the department noted. Thus, it is proposed to introduce a notification procedure for the entry of international cruise ships into the Russian part of the Arctic. Rostourism has also prepared a package of legislative initiatives to promote tourism in the Arctic, which will be sent to the State Duma and the government by the end of the year.
Text: Victor Tsaryov, Photo: putorana-travel.com and Andrey Podkorytov
