Arkhangelsk wants more tourists
In 2010 more than 300 000 tourists visited Arkhangelsk and the surrounding towns. This is up 12 percent from the previous year. But still the share of foreign tourists to the region was rather low – only some 10 percent.
The countries that are leading in terms of number of tourists to the Arkhangelsk Oblast are mostly the Nordic countries – Norway, Finland, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, but also Great Britain and Italy, says Deputy Minister on youth affairs, sport and tourism of the Arkhangelsk Oblast Nikolay Yevmenov to News 29.
According to Yevmenov, Arkhangelsk is aiming at increasing the number of tourists to 500 000 within the next five years, and the regional government is taking several different measures to reach this goal.
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The region has been represented on large Russian and international tourist fairs, and tourist information centers have opened both in Arkhangelsk and several other towns. An online, interactive map has been launched on Pomormap.ru and an online tourist information portal on Pomorland.info.
In May Arkhangelsk will host its first International Tourist Forum with participation from 44 countries, as BarentsObserver reported.
Arkhangelsk is actively taking part in a new cross-border tourist project called “Tourist Circle Euroregion – Arkhangelsk Oblast”, which will connect the Finnish areas of Oulo and Kainuu with the Northern Russian regions of Arkhangelsk, St. Petersburg, Vlogoda, Komi and Karelia.
