#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. According to Alexander Kirilov, the director of the Russian Arctic national park, the influx of tourists to Franz Josef Land and Severnaya Zemlya can be enhanced by developing a passenger Arctic fleet and expanding air travel options. He shared these insights in an interview with TASS, emphasizing that air flights could help extend the tourist season in the Arctic region.
Before the pandemic, around 1 500 travelers visited the national park each year, but that number has now dropped to about 500. This decline is largely due to the limited number of spaces available on ships. Additionally, the Ministry of Natural Resources has supported the park’s proposal to develop air travel connections between Arhangelsk, Murmansk, and the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago. This would involve creating helicopter landing sites, for example, at cape Zhelaniya. If implemented, this could lead to a more than threefold increase in tourist numbers. Currently, the tourist season lasts just two months.
Earlier, This Is Taimyr reported that tour operators are seeing a growing demand among Russians for travel to Arctic regions, but this demand is not being met due to a lack of available options. Furthermore, ticket prices for riverboats on the route from Krasnoyarsk to Dudinka have risen.
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Text: Anzhelica Stepanova, Photo: Denis Kozhevnikov
