For the second year in a row, the number of tourists wishing to travel to the Extreme North exceeds supply and capacity. Most holiday season tours to the Nenets Autonomous Area are sold out, RIA Novosti reports, citing the governor's press office.

"The demand for Extreme North holiday tours is way above available offers for the second year in a row. Given the drop in oil revenues, we have turned to alternative development strategies. Tourism is one of the priority areas. Now is the time to take action for developing tourist infrastructure and supporting small businesses in the region," Governor Igor Koshin said.

The governor noted that tourists traveling beyond the Arctic Circle are interested in extreme travel, unique natural phenomena, rare wildlife and the life of indigenous peoples.

"Some 3,700 tourists visited the Nenets Autonomous Area last year. This year, travel agencies report a significant increase in the numbers. In the past years, we have been working hard to develop infrastructure and new travel offers in the region," the press release states.

Travelers to the Nenets Autonomous Area can take a five-day tour to the northern Timan Ridge, also called the "Pechora Alps." Experienced reindeer drivers will guide tourists through 800 km of tundra, via the Pechora River and its tributaries, tundra lakes, forest trails and villages of the Lower Pechora. The tour introduces travelers to the life in the rural north, its history, and the cuisine of the Pomors, Nenets and Komi peoples. Guests will spend a night in a reindeer herder's raw-hide tent, in a fisherman's hut, and will try cloudberry jam, salmon pies and reindeer blood pancakes.

Snowmobile expeditions are quite popular among Moscow and St. Petersburg residents. The five-day tour includes all the main landmarks, from the Pym-Va-Shora thermal springs and the Sulsky Waterfalls to the Stone Town landscape formation.