#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. The first tourist charter from Russia to the Spitsbergen archipelago is planned to be sent in April 2024: this is when the tourist season begins. This was announced by the Arcticugol trust general director, Ildar Neverov.
The Svalbard (Spitsbergen) archipelago is located in the Arctic ocean between the 76th and 80th parallels, and geographically it is Norway. But according to the Spitsbergen treaty of 1920, Russia, among other countries, got the right to be present there and exploit its resources. For almost 100 years, the economic interests of the country in the archipelago have been represented by Arcticugol.
According to the trust head, not many Russian tourists arrive in Spitsbergen today compared to foreign guests. Despite the fact that there are many locations where you can enjoy all the delights of adventure extreme recreation and tourism.
And, despite the fact that last week Arcticugol received a sanction exemption for flights from Russia to the Arctic archipelago, which will come into force on September 15, the trust plans to organize regular flights by the end of this year, and launch tourist ones in April 2024-th. In any case, the season in the Arctic is now coming to an end, since the polar night will come to the region, which is why there is no demand for tourist trips.
As Izvestia reports, planes will fly from Moscow or Murmansk twice a month, and the price of a flight will be less than 100 thousand rubles round trip.
“Currently, a ship with 130 seats costs less than 100 thousand rubles per person round trip, and it’s very cheap. It is now much more expensive to fly through Norway – 130 thousand rubles and more. This involves three transfers and requires a Norwegian visa, but in the case of a charter, this is not needed, and the flight is only four hours”, the publication quotes the trust’s general director.
Earlier it became known that in the spring of 2024 the first tourist expedition to the North Pole is planned to be sent through Hatanga. The Norilsk Development Agency, together with specialists from Roshydromet, Taimyr Nature Reserves, the Taimyr Museum of Local Lore, and tour operators with the support of Nornickel, explored the tourism opportunities of polar weather stations and the Taimyr Arctic interesting natural sites. The Putorana plateau is included in the top 7 most attractive places for Arctic tourism.
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Text: Elena Popova, Photo: Olga Polyanskaya
