On June 15, 2021, a UNESCO creative city Kargopol hosted a conference on the development of caravaning in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation. This event brought together experts on the tourism sector and caravanning.

The conference was organized by Agency for Regional Development, Ministry of Cultural Affairs of the Arkhangelsk region, Tourist Information center of the Arkhangelsk region and Kenozero National Park.

Tatyana Menshikova, Deputy Head of the Department of State Tourism Projects and Tourism Safety of the Federal Agency for Tourism greeted the audience. According to her, today the approach towards the development of tourism is changing. There is an understanding that this is an opportunity to increase number of jobs and tax revenues, expand the hospitality industry. Keeping in mind all the restrictions, caravanning is reaching a new level and the demand for travel by cars across the country is huge.

At the federal level, a plan was designed for large-scale events aimed at promoting the Arctic territories, including caravaning. Next year, for the first time, Russia will host the largest festival in the field of international caravanning 91st FICC International Rally. This event will take place in Moscow from July 27 to August 7. The International Federation of Camping and Caravanning (FICC) has entrusted the right to hold this festival to the club "The Caravaners League".

Ivan Dementyev, Deputy Prime Minister of the Arkhangelsk region, noted that for several years in the Arkhangelsk Region has been consistently carried out to create a transport framework for the region. The work has started towards the improvement of the roadbed on the Onega and Pinega directions. Soon the road to Kotlas will be included in the list of federal highways.

- we see great potential for the development of caravanning in the Arkhangelsk region, considering the fact that the length of roads and the rich historical and cultural heritage, noted Ivan Dementyev. For us, it is higly important to develop tourist knowledge about the tourists objects available in the region, as well as about the peculiarities of visiting specific areas.

Andrey Leontyev, TV journalist and broadcaster, driver and traveler with 20 years of experience, gave a highly score to the attractiveness of the Arkhangelsk region for caravanners.

- the Arkhangelsk region is distinguished a high concentration of cultural monuments and a variety of natural landscapes. In a week tourists could get here a lot of impressions. The second important point is the proximity to Moscow and St. Petersburg. Journey from the capitals to the region is a matter of one day,  said Andrey Leontyev. In addition, Arkhangelsk region is the closest point to the Arctic Circle from Moscow. As well he noted that the region is located at the cross of several strategically important directions and is a good transit route for tourists from the central regions of Russia.

Most of the speakers and experts were agreed that that for the active development of caravanning in the Arkhangelsk region, people need to be informed about wh ere to go and how to get there, the second important point is tourist navigation.

Beside this, car travelers need a finished travel product. For the Arkhangelsk region, it can be the auto route "Protected lands of the Russian North", which covers the main attractions of the region. To make the route be accept at the regional level, it must be tested in detail; tour programs and display objects must be available not only for groups, but also for individual tourists. Experts noted that the route should be seasonal, summer and winter options. Winter in the Russian North is the main road builder; with the frost come the most remote and inaccessible corners of the region open up to tourists.

In frameworks of the discussions, participants discussed the development of roadside service and infrastructure. They got acquainted with the mechanisms of organizing the "Best Park" campgrounds in Finland, and learned the expectations of Western tourists from traveling in Russia.

A foreign tourist expects from a trip something what he does not have at home. The infrastructure issue is important, but the product itself should not be forgotten, said Arthur Sebazungu, (Abenteuer Osten, Germany), who organizes motorhome travel in Eastern Europe and Asia. Based on his opinion, in the Arkhangelsk region, over the past ten years, not only the roads have improved, but the attitude of the local`s has changed.

As the results of the conference "Protected Lands of the Russian North" proposals will be formed for the development of caravanning in the Arkhangelsk region, taking into account the recommendations of the experts.

Photo: Maria Egorova