Authorities to build necessary infrastructures for Arctic tourism

Russia’s Ministry for Development of the Far East and Arctic will analyze points of tourist attraction in the Arctic and will decide before the yearend how to organize infrastructures there, Deputy Minister Alexander Krutikov said.

According to the ministry, by 2035, up to 3 million people will be visiting the Arctic every year. The authority has been working on a strategy for development of tourism in the Russian Arctic zone.

“We have been working on development of places of tourist attraction in the Arctic,” the official said. “This work continues with every region – from Karelia to Chukotka. We have picked such places of attraction and now we see for every place, for every territory what infrastructures should be organized there to have those places accessible and trips there affordable.”

Before the yearend, the ministry will finalize this work and will begin an active stage to attract investors in projects, the deputy minister said.

The Russian Arctic offers to tourists unique opportunities, he continued, but “accessibility of those products remains very low, expenses on logistics are too high, we also lack hotels, leisure and other facilities,” he added.

Earlier, the ministry and the tourism and local authorities have outlined priority measures to develop tourism in the Arctic, which would become an integral part of the macroregion’s development strategy to 2035.