Infrastructure:

Lack or low quality of necessary infrastructure (living facilities, transport vehicles, a set of equipped ecological trails and routs, etc.)

Geography, climate:

In many regions, the tourist season is limited only to 2-3 months per year.

Human resources:

● The NPAs personnel have little training and experience in marketing, standards of accommodation and service and other fundamental skills, which would make their tour product competitive on the world market.

● Conservativeness of thinking, lack of motivation, low responsibility of the local personnel in many cases.

● Lack of understanding of the customer interests.

● Lack of specialized tour operators.

● Isolation of participants of ecotourism activity, lack of information.

Information, marketing:

● Absence in many nature reserves of ecotourism product meeting the standards of the international travel market (sets of routs and programmes for different tourist categories, etc.)

● Lack of marketing information and skills is one of the most serious factors hampering ecotourism development in Russia. World community has little knowledge about Russia’s natural heritage, ecotourism possibilities.

● There is no stable demand for ecotourism product in the domestic market.

● Influx of foreign visitors to Russia remains quite low and unstable.

● Lack of detailed pre-trip and specialty information (lists of fauna and flora, rare species, etc.) for the travellers, lack of nature interpretation programmes targeted to different categories of visitors in Russian NPAs.

Ecology

● Mechanisms are not in place to determine carrying capacities for NPAs and thoroughly monitor tourism impacts. This makes them vulnerable against possible ecological problems of tourism organized without proper planning and control.

● Very few tourism programmes provide for active involvement of visitors in the conservation activity. More often, an excursion or tour is aimed to demonstrate exotic “wonders and beauties” of nature rather than to better understanding environmental problems.

What was done in Russia for ecotourism development?

● More than 150 ecotourism programmes for various categories of visitors are developed in the Russian Far East, Altai, Baikal, Khakassia, Sayans, Tuva, Krasnoyarsk Region, Caucasus, European North, etc. They include general cognitive ecotours, adventure ecotours (rafting, trekking, horseback riding), specialized programmes (bird watching, botanical, archeological and ethnographic), scientific tours and student practices, weekend excursions, etc.

● Recreation capacities are assessed for ecotourist routes in more than 30 nature reserves and national parks.

● Tourism development programmes and management plans are worked out for several nature reserves.

● Environmental education centres are organized, equipped and work successfully in the nature reserves of the Far East, Altai-Sayans ecoregion, European North, etc.

● A complex of lectures and excursions is developed for the NPAs visitors.

● Infrastructure is improved, a number of ecological trails are equipped in the nature reserves.

● Ecotourism training workshops had been conducted for the personnel of nature reserves, representatives of administrations and tour operators in the Altai-Sayans ecoregion, Caucasus, etc.

● A series of publications had been prepared, including the booklets for many nature reserves, illustrated books presenting the NPAs and ecotourism possibilities in various regions of Russia; web site www.ecotours.ru had been developed.

● A complex advertising and marketing campaign had been organized in Russia and abroad.

● The experience of cooperation with local population is obtained (sociological reviews were carried out in the Altai-Sayans ecoregion, development of local crafts was supported in the Caucasus, local guides are trained, etc.)

● The programme for ecotourism development had been included in the regional

Tourism Development Programme in the Republic of Karachaevo-Cherkessia (Western Caucasus), approved at the governmental level.

● The Ecotourism development Concept had been developed and included in the “Major Directions of Activity for the Period until 2010” for the state nature reserves and national parks, approved by the Russian Federation Ministry for Environmental Protection.

● In 2001, volumes of ecotour operating increased 3 times compared with the previous years.

By the end of 2000, 76 nature reserves (79%) have developed different types of excursion and ecotourist activities. 22 of them (24%) had already equipped or were in the process of equipping the ecological trails. Organized tourist groups had visited 64 (67%) of the nature reserves. Foreign ecotourist groups had visited 47 (49%) of the nature reserves. In 1999, the total number of visitors to the nature reserves was 140,643, including 5057 foreign tourists. Respectively, 612,301 tourists had visited the national parks, including 41,399

foreigners.

(Al. Drosdov, E. Ledovskikh, N. Moraleva Russian Ecotourism Association and Ecotourism Development Fund “Dersu Uzala”)

20. Read the text Nature Conservation Management Plans and make the review.