Tourism Opportunities for Residents of the Russian Arctic: Within the Region, in Russia and Abroad

Introduction. Russian Arctic regions have a significant tourism potential, but it is not fully realized. The purpose of the study is to assess the possibilities of the population of the Arctic regions of the Russian Federation to realize tourism in their places of residence, in Russia and abroad. Materials and Methods. The research methodology is based on the authors’ approach to the analysis of nine Arctic regions of the Russian Federation. The approach allows to fully evaluate and compare with average Russian values the tourism opportunities of the population of the regions of the Arctic zone in their places of permanent residence and beyond. The analysis of tourism opportunities was carried out on the basis of indicators divided into four semantic blocks: economic and social indicators, transport infrastructure, accommodation infrastructure and leisure and entertainment infrastructure. Summary scores for four groups of indicators were calculated based on cluster analysis using the k-means method as well as minimax normalization. Results. The study revealed a significant gap in the Arctic regions of the Russian Federation in terms of economic and social indicators of the population, transportation connectivity and the level of development of infrastructure for accommodation, leisure and entertainment. Limited tourism opportunities for residents of the Arctic regions were identified. The worst situation is observed in the Nenets Autonomous Area, somewhat better in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Discussion and Conclusion. The resuits indicate the need for integrated development of the Arctic regions. The article is of scientific and practical significance for scientists working on tourism development in the Arctic, regional authorities, representatives of the tourism industry.