Designing the structure and set of indicators of ecological tourism on the territory of protected areas

The article is devoted to the elaborating a set of indicators for assessing the development of ecological tourism (ecotourism) in national parks and other specially protected natural areas. Even though this type of tourism is rapidly expanding in the world and Russia, we can conclude that insufficient attention is paid to this problem in Russian conditions. The article discusses various approaches to the formation of the structure and set of indicators of ecotourism, including for protected areas. The author analyzes in detail the popular approaches that consider the capacity of territories and are based on the "load-state-response" scheme. Considerable attention is paid to ecotourism indicators that take into account the concept of sustainable tourism development. Examples of sets of ecotourism indicators in protected areas for several countries and regions are given. For a specific case of the Russian North National Park, the structure of a set of indicators of ecological tourism is proposed, consisting of four groups: indicators of the flow of ecological tourists, indicators of ecotourism facilities and infrastructure; indicators of the impact of ecotourism on the development of protected areas and adjacent territories; indicators of the "sustainability" of ecotourism as compliance with the basic principles and directions of sustainable development. A specific list of ecotourism indicators adapted to the conditions of the Russian North National Park is given for this structure. Proposals are presented for the further development and improvement of the system of ecotourism indicators in protected areas, which include the addition of other types of indicators, the development of indicators of "sustainability" of ecotourism and others.