PCT estimated the reduction in the number of tourists in reserves due to bears

Attendance of certain specially protected natural areas due to the danger of meeting with bears decreased by 30-50%, said on the air of the program “Day. Main” on the channel RBC Director of the reserve “Khakassky”, head of the Committee of the Russian Union of travel industry (PCT) on environmental tourism Viktor Nepomnyshchy.

“Perhaps it will not affect the entire industry as much, but at least for protected areas, the decline is significant.” On average, 30-50%, he said.

In particular, according to Nepomnyashchi, the number of visitors in the Altai reserve decreased by about 50%. He also mentioned the decrease in attendance in the Kuznetsky Alatau Reserve and Shore National Park.

Nepomnyshchy noted that the reduction of tourist flow is significant for protected areas: their infrastructure is difficult to access and requires significant investments, and the incoming funds actually went for repairs. According to him, the situation was also complicated by the summer crisis with fuel and lubricants.

Earlier, the Bank of Russia called the frequent exits of bears to settlements and tourist sites one of the factors restraining domestic tourism in Siberia in August-September. “In fact, tourist centers, national parks and forest park zones of Siberia turned out to be inaccessible for recreation, refusal to travel has become more frequent in some areas,” the regulator noted in the October report “Regional Economy: Comments of the State University”.

On September 30, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Patrushev announced the preparation of changes that will allow the regions to quickly regulate the number of brown bears. Among the measures discussed is the exclusion of the animal from the list of species with limited prey. According to the Ministry of Natural Resources, in 2026 there are 307.9 thousand brown bears in Russia - more than 2.3 times more than in 1990.