China wants to develop tourist routes to the Russian Arctic region, which attracts the Chinese by its unique nature and complex ecosystem, Deputy Head of the Russian Federal Agency for Tourism Nikolai Korolev told on Thursday.

 

"As for the Arctic tourism, our Deputy Prime Ministers have agreed to develop this direction," he said. "China does not have Arctic territories, and thus this kind of tourism is of special interest for China - both from the point of view of studies, and from the point of view of new impressions, of new tourism products."

 

"We can see the demand: Chinese tourism operators have visited the Arkhangelsk Region, where they studied the local market to see how they may organize trips for Chinese clients," he added.

 

According to the Russian official, China has a clear understanding of what the Russian Arctic is like. "The Chinese representatives have told us they realize that the Arctic region is a complicated and unique ecology system," he said. "They understand that organizing trips there would be in connection with keeping that unique natural region, and thus the Chinese are ready to implement tourism technologies, to settle issues of control over their tourists’ staying there."

 

A Russian delegation, led by the Federal Tourism Authority’S Deputy Head, discusses in China cooperation in tourism, initial results from the consultations on visa-free travelling for groups, cooperation at various international platforms, development of new directions for cooperation, and organization of a Russian-Chinese cooperation mechanism for control and regulation of the tourism market.