Abstract:

The area of Lake Baikal has highest recreational potential and good opportunities for the development of various types of tourism. Moreover it has a sufficient capacity to meet the needs for rest and recreation of Russian and foreign tourists and residents of the Republic of Buryatia. However, in present time Lake Baikal tourist potential is not achieved. The study included a series of in-depth interviews that were conducted with representatives of the two expert groups: public authority in tourism sector and tour operators’ representatives in the analyzed region. The task of in-depth interviews was to get an expert evaluation of the North Baikal tourist potential, identify upcoming trends of tourism development in the region, as well as associated problems and limitations. Moreover the paper presents the study of the Northern Baikal environment as a tourist destination on the basis of PESTEL analysis and SWOT analysis tools. The study results show the key problems of the Northern Baikal region as well as main perspectives for the region development as the tourist destination.