MOSCOW, January 31. /TASS/. More than 1 million tourists visited the Arctic in 2023, Minister for Development of the Far East and Arctic Alexey Chekunov said at a meeting with the Federation Council members.

"As for year 2023, the number of tourists visiting the Arctic was 1 million 100 thousand," he said. "Right now, 130 new projects, implemented in the Arctic tourism sector, are enjoying state incentives.

The Arctic tourism is a new and top promising direction, the minister continued. "Here, at the Federation Council, during a meeting of our Arctic Council, social sciences experts reported results of surveys about how much Russians are satisfied with traveling across the country," he said. "The highest share - 97% - spoke positively exactly about trips to the Arctic. Probably because bigger impressions could be only from a space flight."

The ministry sees its task in supporting "Russia's leading positions in the Arctic sciences and in technologies for the North's development." World-class scientific and educational centers are working in Arkhangelsk and Yakutsk. The unique North Pole self-propelled ice-resistant platform has been on an expedition since 2022. More than 300 scientific institutions and universities have been active in the Arctic studies, the minister said in conclusion.