The Federal Tourism Agency is preparing amendments to the legislation in order to create conditions for investors in specially protected natural territories, as announced today by the head of the Federal Tourism Agency Zarina Doguzova at a press conference.
According to her, «a block of legislative initiatives will allow developing ecotourism systematically, without violating the environment, but rather, helping ecological territories and contributing to their development».
In particular, the changes will make it possible to allocate land for the recreation facilities on lands adjacent to specially protected natural areas. This will streamline the possibilities of building and creating tourist infrastructure near national parks and reserves.
Doguzova added that now there are no clear rules for the placement of campsites and glampings. Meanwhile, the lack, and sometimes the lack of hotels, comfortable places for recreation and food, as well as other infrastructure in protected natural areas hinder the development of ecotourism in Russia.
Doguzova said that Rostourism is ready to finance up to 70% of investor costs for the construction of modular hotels - campsites and glampings. According to her, as a result of the implementation of this program in Russia in the near future about 100 new similar objects should appear.
Rostourism has already held a meeting with all manufacturers, business is aware of this initiative. A competition will be announced following elaborating the rules for grants, Doguzova said. The competition will also concern the arrangement of ecological trails and entertainment infrastructure. "And here it is important that the same investor will be able to apply for both the expansion of existing glamping or the creation of a new one, as well as for the arrangement of the territory around," Doguzova said.
Another important factor hampering the development of ecotourism is the lack of available digitized data on those places that are available now.
This system should work on the principle of a “single window”, a portal where all the data on the possibilities of ecological facilities in Russia will be collected.
She promised that everything related to ecotourism will be digitized. It is about the modernization of the national tourist portal Russian Travel.
Doguzova added that the leading countries in the field of ecotourism have systematically developed this sector of the industry for decades.
“We are the country that occupies the first place in the world in terms of the area of specially protected natural territories. And we simply must be one of the best in the world in terms of ecological nature tourism. The economies of countries do not just earn on ecotourism. This money provides for the development of reserves, they use it to become better, infrastructure improves. The revenues are so high that they allow developing these reserves and making them better, more comfortable, more convenient for tourists,’’ she emphasized.
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