Tourism Season – 2015: What Does Kyrgyzstan Expect?
Countries that earn income from the tourism industry are concerned about a sharp decline in interest from foreign tourists due to the global crisis. Experts confirm this downward trend. Kyrgyzstan, on the other hand, remains optimistic. Quite the opposite: industry specialists hope that in 2015, the republic will be visited by many more foreigners than the previous year.
Special hopes in Kyrgyzstan are placed on Russians, who year after year consistently choose the "Kyrgyz pearl" - Lake Issyk-Kul - as their vacation destination.
- This year we expect that 150,000 more tourists will come to Kyrgyzstan compared to 2014, - said Deputy Minister of Culture Maksat Chakiyev. - Last year, 4 million 65 thousand foreign citizens visited the republic. We are ready to improve this result.
From Words to Action
The seriousness of their intentions to compete for Russian and Kazakh tourists, as well as guests from neighboring countries, was demonstrated by domestic representatives of the tourism industry at the XVII International Exhibition "Issyk-Kul - 2015." They plan to conquer the tourist market with competitive prices and quality service. The situation is easiest with Kazakhstan – they purchase about 90 percent of all tours to the Issyk-Kul resorts. Russians are in second place in terms of priority.
- In 2015, we plan to launch air communication between Novosibirsk and Tamchy, - said the head of the Issyk-Kul region, Rayimbek Imangaziev. - This will significantly reduce travel time and simplify the journey. There will be no need to first fly to Bishkek and then drive another four hours to Cholpon-Ata.
For the safety of foreigners, control over road traffic will be strengthened.
- We are ready to ensure safety on the highway leading to the Issyk-Kul region, - noted the traffic police. - Special attention is being paid to the Bishkek-Naryn-Torugart road and the Issyk-Kul ring road. To ensure safety, we will set up mobile posts that will operate around the clock. The intensity on the highway increases during the tourist season, so successful operation requires cooperation with other services. We also intend to increase the number of posts and patrols. Our unit alone will allocate 26 personnel.
Beach of Discord
Finally, the authorities have put a definitive end to the issue of the "ownerless" 100-meter beach zone along the Issyk-Kul coast. It should be noted that there is a law in Kyrgyzstan that prohibits restricting or closing access to the adjacent territory of the lake for the local population. Recall that in 2012, the bill caused a clash of interests between private entrepreneurs and the local population. Owners of private boarding houses and guest houses, wishing to ensure the safety of their guests, fenced off the beach area and closed access to it for local residents. This caused outrage among the inhabitants of the cities and villages adjacent to the resort. At that time, the country's authorities sided with the villagers. However, today officials have reconsidered their position.
- If we open full access to the beaches today, it will be the collapse of tourism in Kyrgyzstan, - said Maksat Chakiyev, head of the Tourism Department. - By accommodating tourists on the territory of the boarding house, its owners guarantee complete safety for the vacationers. If access is free, no one can guarantee it.
Local government representatives provided examples of what has happened to the open beaches today.
- The beaches are dirty, no one takes care of them, - emphasized Rayimbek Imangaziev. - The local population has turned many open beaches into pastures. At the same time, the areas leased to private boarding houses and recreation centers are in excellent condition. They rent these lands from the local government and take care of them.
They do not intend to cancel the law for now, but local authorities promise to hold discussions on this topic with the population. They are confident that a consensus will be reached.
Health and Sports
The authorities guarantee the safety and comfortable transfer of tourists. However, how do the owners of Issyk-Kul resorts plan to entertain and attract tourists?
- Since 2012, we have been uniting all the health resorts of our republic under the umbrella of the Association of Resorts of Kyrgyzstan, - said co-founder of the AKK Rustam Ashimkanov. - Thus, we want to promote medical tourism on the international stage. We really have something to offer tourists. For example, Kyrgyzstan can be a training ground for future Olympians. Today, hundreds of athletes from different countries go to train in Kenya, Korea, and other states. We can compete with them. Thanks to the lake and the mid-mountain region, acclimatization in the Issyk-Kul region occurs faster. While in Kenya an athlete starts training only on the fourth day, here acclimatization takes only one day.
Business Tourist - A Find
Medical and sports tourism are not the only directions proposed by the Association of Resorts of Kyrgyzstan. Alongside them, specialists suggest promoting business tourism.
- What is good about a business tourist? Because they require a complex of services. A business tourist needs not only to work in comfortable conditions but also to relax. Today, about 2,500 outbound conferences are held annually in Kyrgyzstan. We could hold more. However, there is a serious problem in this area. We do not have a large venue. The maximum we can do is hold a conference for 500 people. In this case, we lose larger clients. There are companies that organize two-week outbound conferences for 3,000 people. We simply have nowhere to accommodate such clients. We have prepared a project for the creation of a Eurasian Forum Center and want to implement it within the framework of joining the EAEU.
By the Laws of Sharia
Another novelty that Kyrgyz entrepreneurs are ready to offer tourists is a halal resort. Already this season, it will be possible to vacation at Issyk-Kul according to all the rules of Sharia. Businessman Daniyar Isakov, director of the halal resort, has made a bet on the East.
- There is no halal tourism in our country, so this is a completely new direction for Kyrgyzstan, - notes Isakov. - We are currently opening the first halal recreation center, which will comply with all Sharia norms. The boarding house will start its operations at the beginning of the tourist season. In our recreation center, guests will find a halal menu, prayer mats, and a Quran in every room. The sale of alcohol is strictly prohibited on the resort's territory. We are preparing separate beach areas for women and men.
For some, the idea of a halal resort may seem unexpected. But in fact, this step is quite logical. Recall that in 2012, the authorities of Kyrgyzstan abolished the visa regime for 44 countries. It should be added that five of them are Muslim states. In particular, the list includes Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Bahrain.
- After the abolition of the visa regime, about 40,000 citizens arrived in the republic from these states, - noted Maksat Chakiyev. - By the end of 2014, this figure increased by almost 60%.
Vacationing Like a Savage!
Kyrgyzstan has not forgotten about ordinary tourists, for whom the main treasures of the Issyk-Kul resorts are the lake and nature. For such clients, every penny often counts, and they prefer to choose hotels, boarding houses, and vacation routes on their own. Specifically for these clients, who are also gladly welcomed by the Kyrgyz, a mobile application has been developed that lists all hotels, recreation houses, and services provided by the private sector. With such software, tourists can confidently set off to explore uncharted Kyrgyzstan.
- Our application is unique in that any tourist, bypassing intermediaries, can contact the owner of a hotel, guest house, or mini-boarding house in the private sector directly. This saves time and money. Most importantly, our application is aimed at developing small and medium-sized businesses. Anyone can register on the site, the procedure is similar to registration on social networks. There are minimal requirements for entrepreneurs. I want to emphasize that filling out the application on the site and subsequent work through the web resource is absolutely free for both entrepreneurs and tourists, - said Samat Telegenov, director of "Kyzyl Media," about his project.
