Arctic tourism: assessment of potential, directions of its development and security of its implementation in the European North

Abstract

The paper presents the results of the study of the formation, development and realization process of the Arctic tourism potential in the European North, the problem of development of an integrated approach to the study of the Arctic tourism potential, including its assessment, the definition of development directions and implementation tools. Economic and technical solutions are proposed to eliminate this problem. Developed and tested the author's methodology for assessing the tourism potential of the Northern regions on the basis of criteria such as: the image of the tourist region, the degree of development of tourist infrastructure, the labour potential of tourism, transport accessibility and environmental friendliness of the territory, comfort and safety of tourists, competitive, institutional and innovative components of the tourism sector. The results of the assessment of tourist potential allowed to identify the Northern territories, which have the highest tourist potential and serve as the basis for the development of new tourist projects and complexes. Difficulties and prospects of development of tourist activity in the Arctic zones are designated. The significance of the research in the development of tourism theory is determined. One of the prospects of the Arctic touristic equipment proposed and developed recommendations for the use of scientific and technical development in the field of individual means of human protection in the practice of tour operator activities in the winter. Keywords—arctic tourism; European North; tourism potential; development.