Abstract-In difference to other Arctic countries, tourism development in the Arctic zone of Russia remains understudied.One of the problems that the researchers of the Russian Arctic face is the limited availability of the publicly accessible statistical data. Official statistics often cannot catch up with fast speed changes in the Arctic communities. While several case studies have been conducted with the use of qualitative methods for the analysis of tourism development, the knowledge gap exists in quantitative estimations of the phenomenon. Meanwhile, occupation of the one-third of the Arctic territory, concentration of endemic wildlife species, preserved unique Arctic cultures, and improvements in transportation accessibility, make the area highly attractive for tourists. In order to receive more adjusted information on the development of tourist infrastructure, the authors combined analysis of secondary data taken from the previous studies and Russian Committee of Statistics with the Internet tourist resources available in Russian (tourist sites). Based on analysis of available information, the authors distinguished three zones differing in the prospects and scale of the development of tourism infrastructure: European, Siberian, and Far Eastern. While the Russian Arctic has a lot of specific advantages and disadvantages for the tourism development in comparison with other Arctic countries, the interregional contrasts in economies, natural conditions and transportation access are also highly important for understanding different trajectories of tourism development.

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