in recent years it has become increasingly obvious that neither Russia nor the other countries of the former Soviet Union will be able to become leaders in industrial production and to compete with the developed countries of Europe and the US. However, this conclusion is not a pessimistic one, as Russia has many other competitive advantages, including, inter alia, large reserves of fresh water, extensive forest resources, and huge tracts of unused land that are available for the production of green products. These large areas of unspoiled nature offer enormous potential for the country in the form of ecotourism development. Currently, ecotourism makes up about one percent of the Russian tourism market. Regarding ecotourism development in Russia, the key element is the over-centralised nature of State authority, which concentrates most administrative powers in the federal executive bodies and their territorial subdivisions.