Ecotourism in Russian Karelia: Emergence, development, opportunities

This review article examines the development of ecotourism in national parks in the Republic of Karelia over the last 30 years. In Russia, the term “ecotourism” has appeared in newspapers and scholarly articles since the 1990s and its popularity is still increasing. The authorities in the Republic o...

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Published in:Matkailututkimus
Main Author: Alexander Osipov
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Finnish
Swedish
Published: Suomen matkailututkimuksen seura (Finnish Society for Tourism Research ) 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.33351/mt.79700
https://doaj.org/article/4e870f01ad3d4f018fccf522045c6859
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spelling fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:oai:doaj.org/article:4e870f01ad3d4f018fccf522045c6859 2023-05-15T17:01:03+02:00 Ecotourism in Russian Karelia: Emergence, development, opportunities Alexander Osipov 2019-08-01 https://doi.org/10.33351/mt.79700 https://doaj.org/article/4e870f01ad3d4f018fccf522045c6859 en fi sv eng fin swe Suomen matkailututkimuksen seura (Finnish Society for Tourism Research ) doi:10.33351/mt.79700 2490-2039 https://doaj.org/article/4e870f01ad3d4f018fccf522045c6859 undefined Matkailututkimus, Vol 15, Iss 1 (2019) ecotourism Republic of Karelia national park space landscape hist socio Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2019 fttriple https://doi.org/10.33351/mt.79700 2023-01-22T19:33:31Z This review article examines the development of ecotourism in national parks in the Republic of Karelia over the last 30 years. In Russia, the term “ecotourism” has appeared in newspapers and scholarly articles since the 1990s and its popularity is still increasing. The authorities in the Republic of Karelia have argued that tourism and especially ecotourism have the potential to become a major sector of the Republic’s economy. This article focuses on the meaning of this term internationally, and especially in the context of Russia and Karelia, and considers this definition through the lens of conventional historiography. The key issue of this research is the triangular relationship between ecotourists, local communities and wildlife conservation areas or national parks, where ecotourism functions as a major tool, connecting all these points. This paper applies comparative historical research methods as part of a qualitative approach, analysing a variety of primary sources including archive materials, interviews and forum discussions. The article concludes that the slow growth of ecotourism, despite the attempts of regional authorities and the assistance of the European Union, is due to several reasons including remote locations, poor infrastructure and the lack of symbolic meaning for national parks. Article in Journal/Newspaper karelia* Republic of Karelia Unknown Matkailututkimus 15 1 53 66
institution Open Polar
collection Unknown
op_collection_id fttriple
language English
Finnish
Swedish
topic ecotourism
Republic of Karelia
national park
space
landscape
hist
socio
spellingShingle ecotourism
Republic of Karelia
national park
space
landscape
hist
socio
Alexander Osipov
Ecotourism in Russian Karelia: Emergence, development, opportunities
topic_facet ecotourism
Republic of Karelia
national park
space
landscape
hist
socio
description This review article examines the development of ecotourism in national parks in the Republic of Karelia over the last 30 years. In Russia, the term “ecotourism” has appeared in newspapers and scholarly articles since the 1990s and its popularity is still increasing. The authorities in the Republic of Karelia have argued that tourism and especially ecotourism have the potential to become a major sector of the Republic’s economy. This article focuses on the meaning of this term internationally, and especially in the context of Russia and Karelia, and considers this definition through the lens of conventional historiography. The key issue of this research is the triangular relationship between ecotourists, local communities and wildlife conservation areas or national parks, where ecotourism functions as a major tool, connecting all these points. This paper applies comparative historical research methods as part of a qualitative approach, analysing a variety of primary sources including archive materials, interviews and forum discussions. The article concludes that the slow growth of ecotourism, despite the attempts of regional authorities and the assistance of the European Union, is due to several reasons including remote locations, poor infrastructure and the lack of symbolic meaning for national parks.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Alexander Osipov
author_facet Alexander Osipov
author_sort Alexander Osipov
title Ecotourism in Russian Karelia: Emergence, development, opportunities
title_short Ecotourism in Russian Karelia: Emergence, development, opportunities
title_full Ecotourism in Russian Karelia: Emergence, development, opportunities
title_fullStr Ecotourism in Russian Karelia: Emergence, development, opportunities
title_full_unstemmed Ecotourism in Russian Karelia: Emergence, development, opportunities
title_sort ecotourism in russian karelia: emergence, development, opportunities
publisher Suomen matkailututkimuksen seura (Finnish Society for Tourism Research )
publishDate 2019
url https://doi.org/10.33351/mt.79700
https://doaj.org/article/4e870f01ad3d4f018fccf522045c6859
genre karelia*
Republic of Karelia
genre_facet karelia*
Republic of Karelia
op_source Matkailututkimus, Vol 15, Iss 1 (2019)
op_relation doi:10.33351/mt.79700
2490-2039
https://doaj.org/article/4e870f01ad3d4f018fccf522045c6859
op_rights undefined
op_doi https://doi.org/10.33351/mt.79700
container_title Matkailututkimus
container_volume 15
container_issue 1
container_start_page 53
op_container_end_page 66
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