Speaker
Description
The following trends are observed in the structure of human activity in the coastal zone of the Arctic seas of Russia.
1. The role of military (special) activity is beginning to increase.
2. The role of transport environmental management is beginning to increase [1,2]. Nowadays trend towards climate warming has been observed, which, in turn, causes a decrease in the ice content of the ocean area. It makes positive impact on the organization of transportation of mineral resources and other types of transportation.
3. The role of recreational activity is increasing [1]. Some types of tourism have already been developed in the region, while others have potential opportunities for development. Thus, tourism to the North pole is actively developing with access from Murmansk by sea [2,3]. This is one of the most unique and expensive tourist routes of the Earth, attracting tourists from all over the world, and only Russia has icebreakers that can pass it. A number of direction of tourism, such as adventure tourism, ethnographic tourism, cruise tourism etc. can potentially get much more development than at the present moment. Thus, the literature [1,4] notes the potential attractiveness of cruise routes along the Northern sea route, which would become one of the most unique tours offered around the Earth. This route is comparable in uniqueness with the trip along the Trans-Siberian railway, which is very popular among foreign tourists. At least three cases of organizing cruise tourism from Murmansk to Anadyr were noted during last years[2,3].
Unlike industrial activity, tourism does not enter into sharp conflicts with other types of human activity. Some directions of recreation do not have a strong negative impact on the environment.
There are opportunities for a significant increase in tourist flows (both external and internal), which is confirmed by the example of other Arctic territories in the world: Svalbard, Greenland, Alaska, and the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. However, this requires significant investments in recreational infrastructure, as well as consistent advertising campaigns to promote the region among potential tourists, especially in those countries from which the largest number of them come (Germany, the Scandinavian countries, China, the United States). It seems optimal here to use partnership between state and private business. The C0VID-19 pandemic is also a strong deterrent to development of international tourism from the beginning of 2020. On the other hand, it contributes to the development of domestic tourism.
The Arctic as a tourism region famous for the uniqueness of the Arctic landscapes and tours which it offers. However, the cold climate hinders the development of tourism in the region. Recreational, as well as other types of human activity, should take into account adverse and dangerous natural processes that are typical for the region. The most threatening processes in the region include processes of abrasion and thermal abrasion, storm events and accompanying waves, processes associated with permafrost on land (thermokarst, frost heaving, ice formation, etc., partly waterlogging and flooding).
The major problem of the region is the low level of development of recreational infrastructure, which largely determines the high cost of touristic tours.
At present, Arctic tourism is related to the premium segment of the touristic market, and it occupies an extremely small part of it on a global and even Russian scale. In the future it is important to use combination of two strategies for the development of the region. The first strategy is involving of the premium tourism in the Arctic region, offering unique services that have no analogues in the world (transit along the Northern Sea route, visiting the North Pole, etc.). The second one is active development of budget-priced tourism with a focus mainly on the Russian market.
Literature
- Y. F. Lukin and oth., Arctic tourism in Russia (Arctic and North, Arkhangelsk, 2016).
- E. Zubakina, V. Pogodina, Development of tourism in the Russian Arctic of special interests ( Nauka, Sankt-Peterburg, 2016).
- D. V. Sevastyanov, E.M. Korostelev, Yu. G. Gavrilov, A. V. Karpova Recreational nature management as a factor of sustainable development of the Russian Arctic regions // Geography and natural resources 4 (2015).
- D. V. Sevastyanov, Recreational nature management and tourism in the plans for the development of the Tourism for development (2018).
| Affiliation of speaker | N.N.Zubov State Oceanographic Institute, Roshydromet, senior researcher |
|---|---|
| Publication | Impact Factor journals |
