Trans-boundary tourism in Mongolia

Mongolia is the unique country in tourist sense. It’s situated in the center of the continent. The distance between the mongolian capital (UlaanBaatar) and the centers of the adjacent states (Russia, China, Kazakhstan) reaches thousands kilometers. Severe sharp continental climate and lack of sea resorts are characteristic for Mongolia. Thus, tourist attractiveness of Mongolia is defined by its natural and cultural exclusiveness. The main principle of tourism development in Mongolia consists in combination of nature-protection and recreational functions of the territories, which are most attractive for tourists. The structure of the tourist arrivals in to country is characterized by consider- able prevalence of visitors from neighboring China and Russia. In this regard the development of cross-border tour- ism became one of the most important directions for the cooperation with adjacent regions. The trans-boundary tourism means the interdependent and coordinated recreational development of the territories that belong to certain cross-border corridors (points of border control). Formation of tourist streams, the centers of border trade and infra- structure depend on their location, status and capacity. The central part of Russian-Mongolian cross-border tourist space is presented by unique natural object - the basin of Baikal Lake. The network of special protected natural areas is dated for it. The role which special protected areas play for Mongolian tourism is illustrated by the example of Hovsgol national park. The developed system of conservation can be considered not only as the most important direction of bilateral cooperation, but also as one of the most important factors of the territorial organization of tourism. Creation of cross-border SPNAs, development of transport infrastructure, giving of the international status to cross-border transitions, and also implementation of the bilateral agreement about the visa-free tourist exchange also promote for development of trans-boundary tourism.