Cold calculation: will the Arctic be closed to mass tourism
Quotas may be introduced for travel in the Arctic — this is being discussed by the commission of the State Council of the Russian Federation in the field of Tourism. The authors of the initiative believe that the Arctic regions need special protection from anthropogenic impact, as there is a particularly fragile natural ecosystem. However, the Arctic zone, which occupies about 28% of the country's territory, is not visited by a very large number of tourists anyway. In 2025, there were 2.7 million trips, just 3% of the total number of trips. Izvestia found out whether Russians should expect quotas for tours to the Arctic.
They give five years to introduce quotas.
Vladimir Vasiliev, Executive Director of the international non-governmental organization Northern Forum, announced the development of quotas for travel in the Arctic at the international forum of Associations and consortia of the Northern Territories in Tomsk.
"[Members of the State Council's tourism commission] understand that the Arctic is not made of rubber and cannot accommodate millions of people at once, so this topic will soon find support anyway," he said.
Vasiliev added that the Arctic has a "fragile natural ecosystem" susceptible to anthropogenic impact, which is why restrictions on the number of tourists and strict rules on the use of transport are needed. He took about five years to develop the initiative and introduce quotas.
The executive Director of the Northern Forum noted that many northern territories do not provide for a one-time visit by a large number of tourists, and cited the example of Anabar ulus in Yakutia. Travelers are actively traveling there, although only 3.5 thousand people live in this area on a vast territory. They cannot handle such a large flow of tourists, so "the first thought is to set quotas," Vasiliev stressed.
One of the quota proposals is the creation of a single portal for travel agencies, where it will be possible to book a certain number of tourists for their tours. Now, "Chinese tourists can safely get on their cars and travel in any number," Vasiliev said. He called for an "accurate economic calculation."
However, among Russians, the Arctic and the regions of the Russian North are not visited by a very large number of tourists. In 2025, 2.7 million trips were made to the Arctic zone, which occupies about 28% of the entire territory of the country, which is 3% of the total volume of trips in Russia.
But the number of foreign tourists in the Arctic increased by 23.3%. The average in Russia is only 14.9%. Every 50 intourist travels to the Arctic zone and the Russian North. Yakutia is of particular interest to foreigners, with an annual growth rate of 134%, as well as Murmansk (54.5%) and Arkhangelsk (44.6%) regions.
There must be restrictions
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Economic Development has a strategy for tourism in the Arctic, which implies an increase in the volume of trips to this region. The national project "Tourism and the Hospitality Industry" is also working on this. In March 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the International Arctic Forum that tourism projects that allow us to see the Arctic from a new perspective should receive support.
The regions are also working separately to increase the flow of tourists. For example, in Yamal in 2024, there was talk of a projected increase in tourist traffic "by more than four times by 2030" — thanks to a development strategy with the creation of "the largest tourism cluster in the Polar Urals."
Anthropogenic load, however, is not an empty word. For example, in an article by Anna Ridiger, senior researcher at the SSC RF of VNIRO Federal State Budgetary Scientific Institution, dated 2024, it is stated that the dynamic economic development of the Arctic region entails an inevitable negative impact on its ecological state. According to the author, the Murmansk Region and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) experience the greatest total anthropogenic load, while the Arkhangelsk Region and the Yamalo—Nenets Autonomous District experience the average one. However, Ridiger focuses his attention mainly on the impact of industrial facilities and infrastructure.
The direct impact of tourism on the region is described in the work of Tatiana Valkova and Dmitry Shumkov, staff members of the Department of Recreational Geography and Tourism at the Moscow State University Faculty of Geography, using the example of Arctic tourism in Svalbard. Despite the fact that this place generally feels good, scientists are already talking about the importance of maintaining a balance "between the development of tourism and the preservation of natural ecosystems" and note that "stricter control and development of types of tourism that minimize anthropogenic stress" will be required.
The tourist community is also aware of the need for restrictions. Ilya Umansky, president of the Russian Union of Travel Industry, said in March that mass tourism approaches should not be applied in the Arctic — this region "should remain a maximally protected oasis of wildlife."
"If we talk about cruise tourism, we need ships built in accordance with environmentalists. It is necessary to return to the development of small aircraft, because many tourist sites there are inaccessible. It is extremely important to take into account the interests of small peoples living in the Arctic, it is necessary to develop tourism only taking into account their interests and not chasing the number of tourists," he argued.
Anthropogenic impact on Arctic ecosystems "must be reduced in any case," Maxim Dankin, General Director of the Arctic Development Project Office, stressed in an interview with Izvestia. However, he noted that tourists are not the main source of this impact.
"There are not enough tourists in the Arctic today, especially in the regions of the Ural Federal District and in the eastern part of the country," the expert said. — Therefore, it should rather be about measures that make it possible to reduce anthropogenic impact on nature, climate and ecology of the territory.
He added that it is important to properly organize the process itself: to form ecological and tourist trails that guide travelers along routes that are least sensitive to nature in terms of anthropogenic impact.
But "in no way should tourism in the Arctic be completely restricted," Dunkin is convinced. In his opinion, the tourism industry contributes to the development of territories that are "more closely monitored." The number of unsupervised visits is also decreasing.
— In the case of the integrated development of spaces, including the creation of ecological trails, the hotel fund is also developing, which has a positive impact on the economy. And this, in turn, allows us to increase the number of regional environmental conservation measures. Therefore, it is important to work comprehensively here — not to discourage tourists from coming to the Arctic, but, on the contrary, to stimulate this process, making it safer for the environment," the source believes.
Izvestia sent inquiries to the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, the governments of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the Chukotka Autonomous District and the Murmansk Region. No responses had been received at the time of publication.
How ecosystems are already being protected
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation emphasized in a comment to Izvestia that the ecosystems of the north are very fragile, and the temperature in the Arctic is growing faster than the global average due to global climate change. To protect the natural environment of high latitudes, Russia has created a network of specially protected areas consisting of 40 protected areas of federal significance with a total area of over 40 million hectares, 16 million of which are marine areas. Visits to nature reserves are limited, and in national parks ecological tourism is possible only in specially designated recreational areas. In principle, the development of tourism in protected areas is prohibited.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment did not express its opinion on the possible introduction of quotas, recommending contacting the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia.
Roman Perkhurov, Deputy Director for Development of the Russian Arctic National Park, told Izvestia about how the maximum recreational capacity for specially protected areas is currently calculated.
For this purpose, the decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated October 31, 2023 No. 1811 and a number of other regulatory documents are used. Environmental factors are taken into account — the development of erosion processes, weather conditions, changes in the state of soil, vegetation and water bodies, etc.; social — the level of comfort of visitors associated with the number of people; socio—cultural - changes in the traditional way of life of local communities; socio—economic - how the development of tourism in protected areas affects the economy of the territory. There are other parameters, such as human and infrastructural resources, the seasonality of visits, the impact of vehicles, and so on.
— The territory of the Russian Arctic National Park is located on the Franz Josef Land archipelago and the northern part of the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago and is significantly remote from the Russian mainland. Sightseeing tours to the park are held only in summer, the average duration of the tourist season over the past three years is 60 days. Visitors arrive mainly by water, on the icebreaker "50 years of Victory" or on ice-class yachts. On average, there are four to five rounds per season. The number of visitors who visited the park in one tourist season varies from 600 to 2 thousand people," the expert gave an example.
For tourists, the park has water, hiking, and snowmobile trails and ecotropics. There are 38 of them in total. All of them are one-day trips, ranging in length from 1 to 80 km. Independent walks are prohibited: there are polar bears in the national park, it is extremely dangerous.
With an estimated maximum allowable recreational capacity of 22,387 people per year, the national park receives significantly fewer tourists, Perukhov noted. This is due to the complexity of logistics and the high cost of tours.
Tourists among icebergs near Hooker Island in the Franz Josef Land archipelago
The prices for trips to the Russian Arctic are indeed among the highest: from 900 thousand rubles per person to Franz Josef Land and up to 2-3 million rubles for a trip to the North Pole on an icebreaker.
Other regions of the Arctic can still be visited for much less money. For example, foreigners are offered to get into the already mentioned Anabar ulus for a little less than $ 5 thousand. For Russians in Yakutia, there are tours for 90, 150, 200 thousand rubles. And many Arctic territories of the country are completely accessible for independent tourism.
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