International Tourism Day is celebrated on September 27th. On this occasion, The Commander Islands Nature and Biosphere Reserve summed up some preliminary results of the tourist season 2020.

The situation with COVID-19 has significantly affected the tourist season on the islands. “This year the tourist season was unusually short, but very busy. We usually welcomed the first tourists at the end of May - beginning of June, but this year the season began only at the beginning of August, with several groups at the same time,” said acting director Evgeny Mamaev.

The Commander Islands are full of traps, but even once in them, the guests of the reserve find inspiration. Photo - Camilla Belevkina

The usual and mass type of tourism - sea cruises - this year, on the contrary, turned out to be the least numerous. Only one cruise liner with 84 Russian tourists on board entered the protected water area of the nature reserve.  

At the same time, helicopter tours became more popular than ever. As part of the helicopter excursions, tourists came for a day and had time to watch whales, as well as get acquainted with all the main attractions of the Bering Island - a rookery of sea mammals, Komandor Bay, Buyan Bay and Steller's Arch. In just two months, 6 helicopter groups visited the CINBR.

Komandor Bay - the  burial and memory place of the discoverers of the archipelago. Photo - Camilla Belevkina

The total number of visitors to the reserve was 239 people, all of them are citizens of Russia. This is a third less than last year. For the first time in the last 10 years, not a single foreign tourist has been registered in the CINBR, although it was foreign guests who used to be the absolute majority.

Tourists most like sea whale-watching excursions and bird colonies trips - "A Journey to the World of Whales" and "To Bird Islands: Toporkov Island".