Problems and future potentials for the further development of cruise tourism development on the territory of National Park 'Russian Arctic' is a focus for the keynote speech. Current development of the cruise ship tourism in Northwestern Russia (Murmansk and Arkhangelsk regions) is characterized by a great level of institutional instability. Number of controlling authorities on state and regional level has grown dramatically over the past decade during the 2000s. However, the stakeholders on the local and regional level proved to be active and flexible agents of change which contributes to the valuable process of knowledge transfer among the destinations, for example Svalbard and National Park ‘Russian Arctic’. AECOS’s led project concerning the development of site-specific guidelines initiated several years ago resulted in the set of guidelines applied onto the sites on Franz Josef Land. These initiatives along with other actions taken by local and regional authorities of both Arkhangelsk and Murmansk regions towards further development of cruise tourism allow for careful optimism.