For a country with a high population density, tourism is an important means of recreation and a promising area of cooperation. Tourism has always been ranked among the main sectoral aspects of economic activity. Back in the early 90s, the authorities tried to brand Kyrgyzstan from a tourist point of view, but slogans alone were not enough.
Expert in the sphere of tourism Victoria Kim said that tourism, like everything else, loves investments. “If you want a real exhaust from this sphere, then you have to invest a lot. Otherwise, everything will be reduced to banal slogans. You see, the world has changed and there are not enough beautiful places for a modern tourist to take photos for Instagram. For the most part, in many tourist places of Kyrgyzstan, infrastructure is not at all developed, there are almost Spartan living conditions, if there are roads, they are in a deplorable state. All this needs to be corrected as a whole, if we want the tourism industry to become an effective tool in the economy of Kyrgyzstan,” she added.
Continuing the started topic, it is worth noting that this week Acting Prime Minister, First Vice Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Artem Novikov held a meeting on the development of the tourism sector.
Artem Novikov noted that a situation with coronavirus infection affected the country's economy and caused great damage to it, especially in the tourism sector.
“Many tourism facilities in the regions were built exclusively with credit funds. Today, representatives of small and medium-sized businesses are having difficulties due to the suspension of economic activity. They go through supporting the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.
Acting prime minister focused on the need to develop domestic tourism, so that in addition to the Issyk-Kul Oblast, other regions that have their own natural, historical and cultural attractions that are interesting to potential tourists could develop in the tourism aspect.
“The past year must be recognized as a disastrous one for the tourism industry in many countries of the world. Although the share of tourism in Kyrgyzstan is scanty in comparison with tourist centers such as the countries of southern Europe, southern Asia, island states and so on, but we also did not receive a lot of funds. Mountain tourism and mountaineering have begun to develop dynamically in Kyrgyzstan in recent years. Many lovers to conquer the peaks began to come to us. And due to the COVID-19 pandemic, domestic tour operators are faced with a big crisis. I know firsthand that some travel companies simply could not pull their staff and many employees were dismissed. This is also a bad moment, because people are left without work. But I think that this year should improve the situation a little, despite the disappointing forecasts of experts from the World Health Organization. Hopefully, this year the virus will be less severe and will allow the travel industry workers to shrug their shoulders. Kyrgyzstan is still on the list of attractive tourist destinations, so we hope that the pandemic will begin to recede,” said Victoria Kim.
Minister of Culture, Information and Tourism of the Kyrgyz Republic also spoke at the meeting. In particular, Nurzhigit Kadyrbekov informed about the current situation in the field of tourism and plans for further development.
He said that a plan for the restoration and further development of the tourism sector for 2021-2023 and a plan for state regulation, restoration, development and improvement of the regulatory framework in the field of tourism have been developed.
“We are still raising not quite the most important problematic issues. First of all, we should start by making everyone know about us. Tourism promotion is poorly developed in Kyrgyzstan. It is necessary to order high-quality commercials and promote them in the post-Soviet territory, as well as far beyond. Fortunately, now we have very active and excellent guys who are becoming real professionals. They learned how to shoot with high quality using modern technology. These videos sometimes “shine” on social networks, as well as on the websites of news agencies, but this is not enough. It is necessary to hire cool promoters and promote this product further. Without decent advertising, it will be difficult to draw attention to Kyrgyzstan as a country with an interesting and promising tourism destination. Indeed, in Kyrgyzstan there is practically everything a tourist needs. There is alpine lake with a unique microclimate - Issyk-Kul. If you want high-mountain lakes with an excellent landscape - there are also Son-Kul, Chatyr-Kul. There are all conditions for those wishing to winter tourism. Summer views are also available. Therefore, you should do full-scale promotions. Tour operators themselves are not able to do this due to insufficient funds for this. I believe that the state should itself be interested in this, hence the conclusion that tourism needs state support, at least at first. Then, as in the developed tourism countries, tourism will take the path of self-sufficiency. And of course, as I said above, it is necessary to develop the infrastructure. Roads, hotels, motels, first-class cafes and restaurants. All these are components of success,” the expert noted.
Acting Prime Minister Novikov also speak about this. He stressed that plans are being written year after year, but little is actually being implemented.
“All state-run tourist facilities are unprofitable. Even the Vityaz boarding house, which brought at 10 million soms of profit annually, after being transferred to the management of the Ministry of Culture, Information and Tourism became unprofitable. We need to actively involve the private sector and develop public-private partnerships, as well as change the approach to work, developing, among other things, appropriate mechanisms and draft decisions,” Novikov said.
Following the meeting, the Ministry of Culture, Information and Tourism was instructed to prepare a package of documents and regulations on the development of tourism potential, infrastructure development and management of recreational facilities owned by the state by February 1, 2021, and submit it to the government office of the Kyrgyz Republic for consideration.
The tourism industry in Kyrgyzstan is still a purely rhetorical topic. It has been 30 years since independence, and things are still there. But there was hope. The country's new political leadership is acting decisively in all directions. It's time to unleash great tourism potential. And don't refer to the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sooner or later, the coronavirus infection will recede and by that time one should be ready to welcome tourists from all over the world.
Kabar News Agency
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