The Kyrgyz Republic is located in the northeastern part of Central Asia, in the very "heart" of the Eurasian continent. Its territory covers 199.9 thousand square kilometers and stretches 925 km from east to west, and 453 km from north to south. The borders of the Republic are shared with Kazakhstan to the north, China to the southeast, Tajikistan to the southwest, and Uzbekistan to the west.
The majority of Kyrgyzstan's territory is occupied by mountains, comprising about 94 percent, of which high mountains account for 70 percent, while the remaining mountains and plains make up 30 percent.
Forests cover 5.3 percent of the area, water bodies 4.4 percent, and agricultural land 54 percent. About 90 percent of Kyrgyzstan's territory is situated at an altitude of over 1500 meters above sea level, with more than 36 percent being treeless high-altitude areas located at over 3000 meters. The maximum altitude is 7439 meters, and the minimum is 401 meters.
The republic has 1923 lakes, with a total water surface area of 6836 square kilometers. Lake Issyk-Kul is one of the largest and deepest high-altitude lakes in the world. The surface area of the lake is 6236 square kilometers (with a maximum depth of 668 meters). It never freezes and serves as a resort area of the republic, possessing natural healing resources and the necessary conditions for their application for therapeutic and preventive purposes.
Kyrgyzstan is home to famous mountain peaks such as Victory Peak (7439m), Lenin Peak (7134m), and Khan Tengri (6995m). One of the longest glaciers, "Enylchek," is also a world-class attraction.
The territory of Kyrgyzstan is one of the oldest centers of human civilization. Archaeological studies show that primitive humans settled here since the Stone Age. The Kyrgyz are an ethnic group known in Central Asia since the first millennium BC, preserving their identity and culture through the centuries. The Kyrgyz people carefully preserve and develop all that is best inherited from their ancestors: songs and legends, secrets of crafts, and, of course, traditions of national cuisine.
The attractive landscape, beautiful mountain peaks and lakes, fast rivers, and Kyrgyzstan's location along the ancient Silk Road provide great opportunities for tourism and recreation.
Despite being a small country in terms of territory, the Kyrgyz Republic is among the 200 priority ecological regions of the planet. This is due to the highest concentration of biodiversity of flora and fauna. About 2 percent of the world's flora and 3 percent of the world's fauna can be found here.
In the preservation of biological diversity as of January 1, 2013, the main role in the Kyrgyz Republic is played by the network of specially protected natural areas (SPNAs), covering a total area of 1200.9 thousand hectares or about 6 percent of the country's area. This includes: 10 state nature reserves (591.1 thousand hectares), 9 national parks (304.5 thousand hectares), 10 forest reserves, 23 botanical reserves, 19 geological reserves, 2 complex reserves, and 14 zoological (hunting) reserves with a total area of 301.4 thousand hectares. Additionally, there are 22 ecosystems and 160 types of mountain and plain landscapes throughout Kyrgyzstan, inhabited by more than 50 thousand species of living organisms.
The animal world is quite diverse and heterogeneous in origin. The fauna is primarily composed of species characteristic of the Central Asian and Mediterranean subregions.
Tourism is one of the priority areas of the economy within the declared strategy for sustainable development of the country. In the context of developing globalization, the global tourism industry opens up great prospects and enormous potential for tourism development. In terms of global tourism market trends, two main types of tourism can be identified in Kyrgyzstan.
The first type is adventure tourism, which can be subdivided into the following categories: mountaineering, trekking, rafting, hunting, photo hunting, and fishing. The second type is resort and recreational tourism, also known as rest in boarding houses, recreation centers, and sanatoriums. In Kyrgyzstan, such recreation is primarily possible at Lake Issyk-Kul.
To develop domestic and international tourism, the republic has rich natural-recreational and ecological potential.
The recreational significance of the republic is determined by the presence of large reserves of therapeutic mud, a wealth of mineral and thermal springs, and ecologically clean and almost untouched landscapes. All of this creates unique conditions for tourism and resort recreation.
The share of tourism in the gross domestic product (GDP) of the republic in 2012 was 4.7 percent, compared to 4.5 percent in 2011.
In the republic, 406 recreation and tourism organizations served tourists in the past year, including 66 recreation boarding houses, 29 children's health complexes, 20 sanatoriums (of which 6 are for children), 12 recreation homes, 9 health-resort sanatoriums, 7 recreation bases, 6 tourist bases, 5 sports and health camps, and one treatment boarding house, along with 78 travel agencies and tour operators, 3 travel and excursion bureaus, and 147 hotels and other tourist facilities.
Of the total number of recreation and tourism organizations, 155 are specialized accommodation facilities, including sanatoriums and resort organizations that are stationary therapeutic and preventive institutions providing prevention and restorative treatment for the population, primarily based on the use of the healing properties of natural therapeutic factors. A significant portion (104 specialized institutions) is located in the Issyk-Kul region.
Over the past five years, the number of collective accommodation facilities and tourism enterprises in the republic has decreased by an average of 4 percent; however, there has been growth in the Naryn region – by 1.2 times, in Bishkek and Chui region – by 1.1 times.
It should be noted that about 58 percent of recreation enterprises and tourism organizations operate year-round.
Of the total number of visitors to collective accommodation facilities, about 40 percent were served by specialized accommodation facilities (253.2 thousand people) and about 31 percent used hotel services (194.9 thousand people).
The number of resting tourists in 2012 was 1199.4 thousand people, including 631.9 thousand in the organized tourism sector and 567.5 thousand in the unorganized sector.
Over the past five years, the number of visitors to recreation enterprises and tourism organizations in the Naryn and Osh regions increased by 2.2 times or by 14.6 and 11.1 thousand people, respectively; in the city of Osh, it increased by 1.4 times or by 10.1 thousand; and in the Jalal-Abad region, it increased by 1.3 times or by 14.5 thousand people. Of the total number of tourists in the organized sector, the share of Kyrgyz citizens who rested in 2012 was about 82 percent, while foreign citizens accounted for 18 percent, or 114.4 thousand people.
In 2012, the export of tourism services (income from receiving foreign citizens) amounted to 410.8 million dollars, which is a 23.8 percent increase compared to 2008, including 360.3 million dollars from CIS countries (an increase of 28.2 percent) and 50.5 million dollars from non-CIS countries, remaining at the 2008 level.
According to estimates, in 2012 the number of foreign tourists visiting the Kyrgyz Republic was over 2.4 million people, which is a 30.4 percent increase compared to 2008. Approximately 2.3 million people (94.8 percent of the total number of foreign tourists) arrived from CIS countries, and 124.4 thousand people (5.2 percent) came from non-CIS countries. The main flow of foreign tourists was noted from Kazakhstan, Russia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, China, Germany, Turkey, and the USA.
In 2012, the tourism sector attracted direct foreign investments (excluding outflows) amounting to 6.9 million US dollars, which is 15.9 percent of the level in 2011.
A significant volume of direct foreign investments came from non-CIS countries (85.2 percent of the total volume of incoming investments) and amounted to 13.5 percent of the level in 2011.
The main investing countries were the United Arab Emirates – 49.4 percent of the total volume of attracted investments, the United States of America – 25.3 percent, and the Russian Federation – 14.3 percent.
In 2012, 8472.7 million soms were invested in the construction of tourism facilities, which is 29 percent less than in 2011. The volume of contracted works amounted to 7892.6 million soms, and equipment was purchased for 52.5 million soms.
Over the past five years, hotels, boarding houses, recreation homes, ski bases, trade enterprises, pharmacies, and other facilities have been constructed and renovated.
Construction works have been carried out to rehabilitate the roads "Osh-Sarytash-Irkeshtam," "Southern Transport Corridor," "Osh-Irkeshtam," "Osh-Batken-Isfana," "Taraz-Talas-Suusamyr," "Osh-Isfana," "Bishkek-Naryn-Torugart," "Tyup-Kegen," and others.
The expansion of the resort and recreational tourism sector is associated with the enormous potential of the Issyk-Kul lake area, with its extensive network of boarding houses, recreation homes, resorts, and other health institutions.
As can be seen, there is a stable trend towards growth in the export of tourism services, which is an indicator of positive processes occurring in the country's economy.
According to state statistical authorities, about 2,000 active economic entities are involved in tourism activities in Kyrgyzstan. The total number of travel agencies and tour operators, the majority of which are located in Bishkek and the Issyk-Kul region, exceeds 150. These small enterprises provide one-day, weekly, and longer packages of services in the most interesting places in the republic. There are also travel agencies that organize tours to neighboring and distant countries.
Tour operators are producers of tourism products. They combine travel components – transport, accommodation, excursions, entertainment – into a single package. Tour operators are wholesalers who sell tours through travel agencies.
Travel agencies sell packages of services developed by tour operators, tickets, and related services.
Today, there is no clear division between tour operator firms and travel agency firms in Kyrgyzstan. Due to the underdeveloped market, the functions of tour operators and travel agencies intertwine within one firm. The activities of many travel agencies are universal in nature. Tour operators sell their tourism products directly to consumers, while travel agencies create their own tourism products.
Hospitality service enterprises, travel agencies, and major entertainment facilities, such as restaurants, bars, and casinos, are mainly concentrated in Bishkek. Their total number reaches 2000; however, few of them are able to provide service in accordance with international standards.
Thus, considering global trends, the analysis presented allows us to determine (albeit conditionally) the market capacity of Kyrgyzstan's tourism industry. It amounts to about one million tourists per year. Further increases in tourist flow will require the state to implement measures for environmental protection and service improvement.
Unfortunately, none of the existing accounting schemes for tourist stays in the country (border control, registration with the OVIR, statistical reports from tourism industry entities) provide real data.
S. D. Dudashvili "Tourist Resources of Kyrgyzstan"
