The Ministry for Development of the Russian Far East has prepared a draft list of priority measures for the development of tourism in the Arctic, which will be implemented jointly with the Federal Agency for Tourism and the governments of northern regions, and included in the Russian Arctic Development Strategy until 2035.

The draft document includes measures for increasing transport accessibility of the Arctic regions, the development of cruise shipping, promotion of tourism investments, and other areas.

According to the Ministry for Development of the Russian Far East, the tourist flow in the Russian Arctic is currently growing: in 2019, the region received 1.17 million visitors which is 5% higher than in 2018. The most popular destination is the Murmansk region which accounts for up to 40% of all tourists. The runner-up is the Arkhangelsk region with 18%, followed by Karelia and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug with 15% each.

When it comes to natural heritage sites, tourists are interested in visiting numerous national parks in Yakutia, Chukotka, the Krasnoyarsk Territory and in Yamal which offer tourist trails, rafting, ethnographic trails to the settlements of peoples of the Far North, and trips to the edge of Eurasia (Cape Dezhnev). The cultural heritage of the Russian Arctic is endowed with artefacts from a variety of different eras: from Neolithic drawings in Karelia to the famous Solovetsky Monastery in the archipelago in the White Sea.

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