Inland water tourism to contribute to development of Russian coastal regions, expert says

ARKHANGELSK, April 24. /TASS/. The inland water tourism industry expansion will contribute to development of Russia's coastal regions, senior researcher at the Laverov Federal Research Center for Integrated Arctic Studies (Arkhangelsk, the Russian Academy of Sciences' Urals Branch) Sergey Zvyagin told TASS. "The inland water tourism industry may become the most important direction in development of Russia's coastal regions. Here, it should have: easier legal regulations for individuals and businesses in the organizational and professional activities of water tourism actors; state financial support for building marine, river and small fleet; allocation of reference points in coastal settlements as infrastructure and service points," the expert said. In the book "Marine Heritage in the Socio-Cultural and Political Space of Russia," he analyzes coastal regions, making proposals for development of water tourism. In his opinion, the country's water network is currently underutilized. Certain positive practices that existed in the USSR have been lost, and they may be revived in line with modern realities. "The practice of building river-sea-type vessels was good, they were shallow-seated, with good cargo carrying capacities. It seems to me that it would be good to make a pilot project of a river-sea cruise ship, a cargo-passenger one. After all, we know areas where there may be few passengers though with always a lot of cargo to deliver. This could be an option to ensure the supply of settlements on the coast, to deliver goods, and so on," he continued. "Also, take for example the White Sea - Baltic Canal which is not as busy as it could be from the point of view of tourism. It could quite well connect the North and the Baltic."