VISA REGIMES AND REGULATORY DOCUMENTS AS AN OBSTACLE FOR TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN CENTRAL ASIA - Tourism in Central Asia: Cultural Potential and Challenges - page 251

of Kazakhstan for the entire period of time the visa is valid. Travel agencies
may arrange this registration for a fee, as well. The sense of this action is
questionable, particularly when one remembers that Kazakhstan has in-
creasingly opened itself to the world. But the country's strategy for foreign
tourism shows that a comprehensive approach is lacking. Kazakhstan has
eased its registration process but not enough, and clarification is still lack-
ing.
By contrast Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan are both countries, which com-
pletely did away with registration for short-term stays (up to 30 or 90 days,
respectively). Kyrgyzstan had in fact already done so in the 1990s, when it
officially ceased to require foreigners to register. But the country's public
safety authorities determined that the absence of this registration could
become an opportunity for corruption. 20 In 2002, therefore, Kyrgyzstan's
Ministry of Foreign Affairs published information on its website concern-
ing the cancellation of registration requirements. 21 Currently, this fact is
generally accepted. In Tajikistan, tourists are allowed to stay up to 30 days
with a tourist visa. It should be noted that this concerns tourist visas: pri-
vate visas still require registration.
As is clear from the above overview, the registration of foreigners (like
visa policy) reflects the general character of the bureaucracy and the exist-
ing regime, while the reasons behind the requirements and their imple-
mentation vary widely. In Turkmenistan, which is an example of a “hard
regime,” there is an attempt to gain total control over the populace, in-
cluding foreign tourists, while in Uzbekistan, there is significant disparity
in the way the regulations are interpreted, leading to the temptation for
corrupt dealings between tourists and Uzbek authorities. By contrast, the
softer regime of Kyrgyzstan does not require any further paperwork of
tourists. But cancelation or weakening of the registration rules, as well
as their enforcement, has been inconsistently carried out (except in
Turkmenistan). From the standpoint of developing the tourist trade, it
would therefore be advisable to completely do away with registration for-
malities. From the regime's viewpoint, this would be an understandable
step. It therefore holds true that the greater attempt made by the regime
to control activities within its borders, the greater the attempt will be to
control foreigners and tourists, as well.
20 Author's experience, 1999.
21 Author's archive, the content of the website was later removed.