The Key Factors Influencing The Development Of Ecotourism In The Baikal Region

When the term'ecotourism'first began to appear regularly in the English language academic literature in the late 1980s, no one could have predicted the prominent position that this then obscure niche product would come to occupy 20 years later within the tourism sector and more specifically as a topic of investigation within the field of tourism studies Ecotourism has become an equitable segment of the world tourism market. According to the International Ecotourism Society (TIES,2006), in 2004, ecotourism was growing globally three times faster than the tourism industry as a whole.Ecotourism is a type of modern tourism, the development of which is the most preferred in the territory of the Baikal region, by virtue of the unique natural sites located in the region, representing the world's interest. The principles of ecology, sustainable development, efficiency and social partnership are actively used in the formation of tourism politics in the Baikal region. The development of eco-tourism as a whole, of course, is related to the general trends of development of tourism, but also has its own specifics. The value of environmental tourism in the near future will grow in this region. Development of ecotourism in the Baikal region can provide nature protection, growth of employment and socio-economic development.This study sought to assess the current status of ecotourism and find the key factors in Baikal region by online consumer survey region and analysis of the data collection. To study the factors affecting the development of ecotourism in the Baikal region.Thus, the initial hypothesis is that the consumer between groups having different descriptive characteristics, there are differences in the preferences in choosing factors influencing the development of Ecotourism in the Baikal region. For this purpose 315 questionnaire were conducted between the 3rd of March 2016 and 26th of March 2016. Thus, a finite number of observations is 245.To evaluate which factors participants considered the most important, we report descriptive statistics for each factor. Higher values of mean indicate that more respondents chose the fifth option-"very strong factor", while lower values of mean indicate that more participants chose the first option-"very weak factor"The results showed that "Ecotourism product pricing" scores (M=4.56, SD=1.210) has the highest scores. The weakest factor from all is "Scale of overseas visitors" (M=1.34, SD=1.539).Recommendations in our study can help Baikal region to have a good development. First improve infrastructure therefore it is necessary to ensure a high level of tourist accommodation, with regard to the Baikal region are still not enough high quality hotels category (five stars).Second necessary to adjust the prices for accommodation, and increasing the quality of service by selecting a highly qualified staff, since the low culture of hospitality is not given enough high statistics about service costs.Third need make available information on all aspects of ecotourism activity in region and makes it easy to quickly find the information to all stakeholders in ecotourism development.