YAKUTSK, October 10. /TASS/. An extreme tourism cluster will be organized in Yakutia’s Anabarsky District, washed by the Laptev Sea in the north. The regional authorities say the cluster may increase tenfold the number of visiting tourists, the administration’s first deputy head Iosif Vasilyev told TASS.

According to the Corporation for the Development of the Far East, every fifth project business residents implement in the Russian Federation’s Arctic Zone is in tourism. More than 100 business residents have been working in the tourism sector across the Russian Arctic Zone.

"Jointly with local businesses we have drafted a master plan to develop tourism, and before 2027 we will organize an extreme tourism cluster," the official said. "For the future cluster we have bought two cargo and passenger amphibious all-terrain vehicles and a hovercraft."

Investments in the cluster are planned at about 150 million rubles ($2.4 million), he added. The cluster will attract up to 2,000 visitors a year. Presently, the number of tourists visiting the region is not big: 218 people in 2020 and 266 in 2019.

Deer, bison and ancient lakes

Yakutia’s Anabarsky District takes an area of 55,600 square kilometers. It is bigger than Moscow and the Moscow Region together. The district’s population is not more than 3,500 people, who mostly live in the district’s center - Saskulakh.

The main native ethnic group is the Dolgans, whose key occupation is domestic reindeer husbandry. Every second person in the district is Dolgan. Their unique culture and lifestyle, according to the tourist project’s authors, can be the main attraction. Additionally, the Terpyai-Tumus resource reserve is located in the north. There live rare animals - wild reindeer, arctic foxes, musk oxen, polar bears. "These two attractions will drive tourism development in the district," the official continued.

Water tourism is another promising direction - rafting and fishing on the Anabar River, which is ranked sixth among Yakut rivers in terms of the basin area, and the 22nd among all Russian rivers. Tourists will be interested to see the unique natural territories, for example, the Anabar Plateau - an unexplored land of gorges, rocks and snow with thousands of lakes and hundreds of waterfalls. The area is cut by river valleys and traces of the ancient glaciation.

In the north, at the exit from the Khatanga Bay into the Laptev Sea, lays the Bolshoy Begichev Island, in the center of which is the Kiryak mountainous hill. The island is a nursery of musk oxen - a territory of guaranteed presentation of these specific Arctic animals.

Tourists can also watch walruses on the Laptev Sea coast. The Laptev subspecies is rare and it is listed on the Red Data Book.

"The district is happy to offer gastronomic tours. The Northern cuisine is diverse and includes dishes from local products - reindeer husbandry, hunting and fishing. Wild plants - cranberries, blueberries and cloudberries - add a special local touch," the official said, stressing there is also a demand for pilgrimage tourism, tours for photographers, hunters and fishers.

Tours to Cape Paksa

The local authorities have supported businesses, which develop tourism. A Russian polar explorer, traveler and a member of the Russian Geographical Society Bodgan Bulychev plans to launch in 2022 tours to Cape Paksa - the Far East’s northernmost continental point.

Businesses will build for tourists on Cape Paksa ten modern glamping hotels. "Just imagine: here spreads the open water free from ice, you can watch polar bears, sheer cliffs up to 30 meters high, a lighthouse," the traveler said.

Foreign tourists, for example, from China, may travel the district in 2023. During the current year, a few Chinese operators will visit Cape Paksa to study the product they will offer.

Tourism in Yakutia

Tourism is a priority direction in Yakutia’s non-resource economy. About 200 tourist projects are being implemented, and this number is growing steadily. The most popular routes are to the Lena Pillars National Park and the Oymyakon Pole of Cold, cruises along the Lena River, Arctic, hiking mountain tours, fishing, rafting and various events.

The local tourism ministry says that due to the epidemiological situation the number of tourists to Yakutia, like in other regions, decreased in 2020 to 114,500 people. In 2021, the tourist inflow recovered to 190,504 visitors. The authorities expect the number of tourists in 2022-2023 will exceed the pre-pandemic level.

According to the authorities, additional tourists may be attracted by new facilities and routes. In 2021, Yakutia signed an agreement with the "Tourism.RF" corporation on development of tourism infrastructures. The parties have been working on master plans for eight tourism clusters: the Lena, the Oymyakon - Pole of Cold, Amga, the Russian North of the Arctic, the Verkhoyanye, The Yurta of the World, the Lebediny ski complex, and a 180-room hotel complex in Yakutsk.