Ecotourism development in Russia: 115 applications from 68 constituent entities of Russia have been submitted to participate in the All-Russian competition
On July 10, the acceptance of applications for participation in the All-Russian competition for the creation of tourist and recreational clusters and the development of ecotourism in Russia was completed. The competition aroused great interest throughout Russia. This is proved by the large number of applications submitted for participation - 115 applications from 68 subjects of the Russian Federation.
Since the beginning of the competition, 219 projects have been registered on the website, which included 1075 participants from 81 regions of Russia. A total of 523 protected areas were involved, and the total area under the projects exceeded 112 million hectares.
To participate in the first qualifying stage, the participants had to fill out an application that included information about the project team and a brief description of the main idea of the proposed tourist and recreational cluster (express analysis and framework concept). As a result, 115 applications were sent, written according to the conditions, out of 68 subjects of the Russian Federation, 8 federal districts, uniting 926 participants. Within the framework of the projects, 239 protected areas (162 federal and 77 regional) are represented. The total area involved is 58 million hectares.
Representatives of the North-West Federal District showed the greatest activity, having submitted 22 applications. From the Siberian and Central Federal Districts, 20 applications were received, from the Volga and Southern Federal Districts - 18 and 14 applications, respectively. 11 applications were submitted from the Far Eastern Federal District, and 8 and 4 applications respectively from the Ural and North Caucasus Federal Districts.
Most applications were submitted from the Republic of Karelia. Here, 6 teams seek to win. 5 teams each participate from the St. Petersburg Region, Krasnodar Territory and the Republic of Tatarstan, and 4 teams each participate from the Kaluga and Moscow Regions and the Krasnoyarsk Territory.
Already on July 28, at the meeting of the Competition Commission, chaired by Sergei Ivanov, special representative of the President of the Russian Federation on environmental issues, ecology and transport, 30 finalists of the competition will be determined who will continue the struggle for victory in the next stage.