Tourism in Central Asia

TDM 458Ara Pachmayer

Overview

The Stans - “stans” means land Formerly known as Soviet Central Asia

Part of the USSR – except Afghanistan Population

Largely Muslim with minority Russian population (in attempts to Russify the region)

Geography High mountainous region Lower flat plains

History

Historical ties to the Arab and Ottoman empires Islamic

Genghis Khan - unified the area in 1200’s Trading corridor

Silk Road Many buildings from the era still standing and

are attractions European influence

Russian colonization 1400 – 1900 – brought language and cultural traditions

USSR - 1917 - 1991 CIS - Commonwealth of Independent States

1990’s – today – After Independence Economic and political instability after

independence Politically sensitive areas - Civil Wars,

terrorist cells Ethnic tensions with ethnic Russians Poorly developed infrastructure Kyrgyzstan is presently the most stable

Tourism Today

Moscow to Beijing Railway Cultural Tourism

Religious sites Traditional cultures

Adventure Tourism – rock climbing, mountaineering, river sports

Winter Tourism Skiing, trekking

Silk Road Tourism

WTO Silk Road Project

Tourism Today

Problems for development Not much potential for mass tourism – perhaps

niche tourism though? Corruption, bribes standard, totalitarian

governments Transportation issues

Getting there – no direct flights to the region for the most part

Getting around - poor road conditions, links to other destinations, some of the most dangerous roads in the world

Image issues - case of Kazakhstan (see textbook highlight on the movie Borat) and negative reports from tourists

Visa and entry issues

Tourism Today

Problems for development Lack of modern accommodations Entrance fees higher for tourists Language Barriers

Relatively few speakers of other languages Languages spoken are difficult not widely

taught (Persian related though for some countries)

Lack of qualified tourism service providers Source markets for tourism

VFR - so spend less money overall From former Soviet Republics

Difficult to compete with most other destinations outside the region

Case Study - Afghanistan

Well developed tourism in the 1960’s and 1970’s 90,000 tourists each year Many cultural attractions, Buddhist cultural sites,

ancient cities, mountain trekking Hippie Trail - came to an end 1978/79 with

Islamic Revolution in Iran and Russian Invasion of Afghanistan

1978 - Communist Party take over Results in 10 year war with USSR “Never get involved in a land war in Asia” Afghanistan in disarray after USSR withdrawal

Paved way for current instability

Afghanistan

Today Expanding investment in tourism New Ministry of Tourism - to promote tourism Current poor relations with US as a result of

alleged harboring of Bin Laden

Afghanistan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WInEoDRavgI&feature=related Afghanistan: an unlikely tourist destination