Vechkinzova E.A., Kazantseva A.V. Differentiation of Infrastructural, Economic, and Tourist Development of Republic of Karelia’s Arctic Territories

Elena A.  Vechkinzova
State University of Management, Moscow, Russian Federation
Alina  V.  Kazantseva
V.A. Trapeznikov Institute of Control Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russian Federation

Abstract. The article evaluates the level of infrastructural, economic, and tourist development of the Arctic municipal regions (districts) of the Republic of Karelia using a rating approach based on the normalization of these indicators characterizing the quality and level of infrastructural development, provision of tourist infrastructure facilities, and entrepreneurial activity. Based on the indicators under analysis ratings of infrastructural, economic, and tourist development were compiled, as well as the final rating of the Arctic territories of the Republic of Karelia for 2021–2023. Certain imbalances in the development of territories were identified (Loukhsky municipal district in 2021 was the sixth in terms of infrastructural and economic development and the first in terms of tourism, while Segezha Municipal District, on the contrary, was the second in terms of infrastructural and economic development and the fifth in terms of tourism). By 2023, the ratings of districts became more balanced, but there remains a clear bias towards one of the two development indicators under analysis in almost every municipal region (district). Based on the calculated rating indicators, two districts (Kemsky and Loukhsky) were identified that have a higher tourism potential compared to the infrastructural and economic ones, which allows them to be considered as potential points for the implementation of tourism projects that should be focused on attracting investments from outside. The recommendations on the need for a comprehensive approach to the integration of cultural resources, the activation of local communities, training and attracting new labor, as well as the promotion of districts from a marketing point of view were substantiated. Authors’ contribution. E.A. Vechkinzova – justification of the methodology and development of the research concept, general scientific editing of the article, generalization of research results, and formulation of conclusions; A.V. Kazantseva – collecting and analyzing empirical data, writing the text, generalization of research results, and formulation of conclusions.
Key words: tourist infrastructure, infrastructural and economic development, differentiation of territories, Arctic Karelia, Arctic territories rating, balanced development, territorial promotion.
Citation. Vechkinzova E.A., Kazantseva A.V., 2026. Differentiation of Infrastructural, Economic, and Tourist Development of Republic of Karelia’s Arctic Territories. Regionalnaya ekonomika. Yug Rossii [Regional Economy. South of Russia], vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 47-59. (in Russian). DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/re.volsu.2026.1.5

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