ST. PETERSBURG, February 26. /TASS/. The number of tourists to Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya may grow with development of the passenger Arctic fleet, as well as air services, Russian Arctic National Park's Director Alexander Kirilov said at a news conference at TASS press center in St. Petersburg.
Available flights would mean longer tourist seasons, he added.
"Before 2019, before the pandemic, every year about 1,500 people visited us [the national park]. Presently, the number of tourists is three times less, that is about 500 people. What hinders is first of all the number of available ships that call on Franz Josef Land, Novaya Zemlya. Only the passenger fleet's development may remedy the situation. Plus the idea, proposed by the park, and supported by Russia's Ministry of Natural Resources, including to develop flights between Arkhangelsk or Murmansk, mainly Arkhangelsk, and the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago," the park's director said.
This requires helipads and supporting infrastructures on Novaya Zemlya, for example, on Cape Zhelaniya - the archipelago's northern tip, where the national park's base is located. "This way we could extend the tourist season by more than three times. In the current conditions, the season continues for two months, since further on the ice cover develops. These are the restrictions we have," he added.
About the national park
The Russian Arctic National Park is Russia's northernmost and largest protected natural area that unites the Franz Josef Land Archipelago and the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago's northern part. The national park is a most inaccessible territory in Russia and in the world.