Opportunities and Limiting Factors for Tourism Development in the Khibiny

Abstract

The Khibiny attracts more and more attention as an interesting and promising object attracting flows of tourists and athletes not only from a number of regions of Russia, but also from abroad. In this regard, significant changes are taking place in Kirovsk in the structure of economic activity, associated, first of all, with the reorganization of recreational activities. However, the presence of mining facilities in this area has caused a large load on natural ecosystems. As a result, an adverse environmental situation is developing in the study area, which limits the development of recreation here. To assess the current state and identify opportunities for the development of recreational activities in the Khibiny, in particular, in the city of Kirovsk and its environs, comprehensive studies were carried out in January 2019, 2020 and in August 2021. The results show that this region is a very attractive recreation center, and vacationers and local residents are interested in the development of tourism in this area. At the same time, the studies revealed a number of problems limiting the development of tourism in the Khibiny, which include, first of all, the deterioration of the quality of the natural environment associated with the emergence of technogenic landscapes as a result apatite-nepheline mining. socio-economic factors that reduce the tourist and recreational attractiveness of the Khibiny include the low level of development of tourist infrastructure and the quality of services.