Russian Arctic park welcomes more than 1,000 visitors

More than 1,000 people visited Russia’s northernmost national park - the Russian Arctic during the tourist season, which has just closed, the park’s Press Secretary Yulia Petrova told TASS.

"During this year’s season, the Russian Arctic Nation Park welcomed 1,079 visitors," she said. "Those were tourists on nine cruise voyages and members of the Arctic floating university on board the Professor Molchanov vessel."

Five voyages to the North Pole on board the 50 Let Pobedy icebreaker crossed the Franz Josef Land Archipelago (operators Quark Expeditions and Poseidon Expeditions). Three voyages on board the Sea Spirit were from Spitsbergen to Franz Josef Land and back. The Bremen vessel also called on the national park. The park’s state inspectors escorted all the voyages.

"The tourists saw the first polar station in the Hooker Island’s Tikhaya Bay, spherical stones on the Champ Island, rocks on the Hall Island’s Tegethoff Cape, they visited the northern point of Russia and Eurasia - the Fligeli Cape on the Rudolf Island, and during boat trips the visitors could see the glaciers, watch polar bears and walruses," the national park’s Director Alexander Kirilov told TASS.

"This year, the visitors could for the first time walk on the Kuhn Island, on the Luigi Island and took boat tours of the small rocky Brosch Island, where they could observe Arctic foxes at a bird colony," the press secretary said.

According to the park’s director, the weather during the tourist season was quite favorable.

"We had rather often fogs, rains, but overall that was typical Arctic summer weather," he said.

During the upcoming tourist season, the Russian Arctic National Park plans to welcome eight cruises.

"Those will be traditional five routes to the North Pole on board the 50 Let Pobedy icebreaker and three cruises Spitsbergen - Franz Josef Land - Spitsbergen," the director said.

The Russian Arctic National Park is Russia’s northernmost and biggest natural reserve, which takes the area of 8.8 million hectares. The Park includes a northern part of the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago’s Severny Island and the entire Franz Josef Land Archipelago. In 2013, the national park welcomed 639 visitors, in 2014 - 738, in 2015 - 1,225, in 2016 - 954, and in 2017 - 1,142. The summer tourist season in 2018 began on June 14.