Far East and Arctic Development Minister Alexei Chekunkov said he wants to increase the annual flow of tourists to the regions to 15 million people by 2030. In five years the Far East and the Arctic will become a tourist paradise, the minister said last week at the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg.
“We have analysed tourism development in all Far Eastern and Arctic regions. There are niches everywhere to create interesting travel products. We will strive to ensure that the flow of tourists to the Far East and the Arctic grows to 15 million people a year by 2030, using both existing mechanisms to support the economy and new tools for this purpose,” the RIA Novosti news agency quotes Chekunkov’s words as saying.
The minister added that it was important to “find a balance between the development of the tourism industry and the preservation of ecosystems that are sensitive to external influences”.
Rostourism develops standards for Arctic tourism
Russia could be the first country to draw up international standards for Arctic tourism, said Tatyana Menshikova, acting head of the department for state tourism projects and tourism security at the Federal Agency for Tourism (Rostourism).
“We all know that there are no international standards or standardization system in the Arctic zone. Russia can express this initiative and become the first country to develop and approve tourism and safety standards for the Arctic zone,” Menshikova said in Norilsk at an expanded meeting on the development of sports and tourism in the Russian Arctic.
Previously, Rotourism drafted new national tourism standards for the Arctic aimed at ensuring the sustainable development of northern regions.
Heiner Kubny, PolarJournal
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