Strategizing of Russian Far East Tourism

Abstract

The Russian Far East occupies the northeastern part of Eurasia. Its northern coast has access to the Arctic and the Pacific through the Laptev, East Siberian, and Chukchee seas, while its eastern coast borders on the Bering, Okhotsk, and Japan seas. The region stretches from north to south, and its nature, climatic zones, flora, and fauna are extremely diverse. As a result, the Russian Far East has an enormous potential for tourism. Its transport and transit potential also means unique opportunities for the regional social and economic development. For instance, the macroregion has a good background for close cooperation with the large emerging markets of the Asia-Pacific countries. However, the sectoral structure of the Far-Eastern economy is mainly represented by mining and manufacturing industries. The current strategic task is to increase the share of non-commodity and non-energy exports in the overall structure of the country’s exports. Pacific Russia needs new strategic opportunities while its touristic potential needs new assessment means. The present research featured tourism as a strategic branch of the economy of the Russian Far East. The author believes that the unconditional competitive advantages of this macro-region will eventually boost the domestic tourism development strategy. The article introduces an analysis of strategic opportunities, as well as economic, financial, labor, and time resources. This research is the first and most important stage in the analysis of the external environment of the object of strategizing. The fundamental importance of this stage lies in the fact that the window of opportunities is short-lived. Therefore, the global touristic prospects of this vast resource-rich territory depend on the timeliness of management decisions, i.e., a systemic integrated development of the industry based on a single strategy document. The analysis made it possible to outline some strategic guidelines for the diversification of the Far Eastern economy and improving the quality of life in the microregion. The further research will involve a comprehensive assessment of the strengths, weaknesses, and competitive advantages of the region.