TOURISM IN KYRGYZSTAN - Tourism in Central Asia: Cultural Potential and Challenges - page 268

OBSTACLES OF KYRGYZSTAN FOR DEVELOPING ITS TOURISM
SECTOR
Despite the fact that Kyrgyzstan has several advantages for developing
tourism, there are certain obstacles that limit the country's potential. In
this part, these obstacles will be analyzed under four headings: 1) the
Soviet legacy, 2) economic problems, 3) political problems, and 4) legal
problems. All three are in fact closely related and sometimes influence
each other.
THE SOVIET LEGACY
One basic challenge that Kyrgyzstan has to face is related to the general
perception of the tourism sector in the former Soviet Union. One of the
basic characteristics of the Soviet era tourism was heavy state control over
the tourism sector (Özcan, 2010). There was no real mechanism for pri-
vate initiatives, as the system was not working on the principle of profit-
making (Yılmaz et al., 2008). Central agencies of the Soviet state, such
as the Central Council for the Administration of Health Resources, the
Central Council for Tourism and Excursions, and the Central Children's
Excursion and Tourism Station, were responsible for managing tourism
activities (Özcan, 2011). Furthermore, tourism was basically seen as an
activity related to health: “the workers of the country had a right to leisure
and good health that would stimulate high achievements” (Özcan, 2010).
As for Central Asia, the region was officially opened for foreign tourism
only in the early 1970s for sightseeing, cultural tourism, health travel, and
sports (Özcan, 2010). However, foreign tourists, especially the ones from
capitalist countries were strictly controlled upon their arrival. As Werner
(2003) suggests: “Generally tourists who visited Central Asia did so on
a comprehensive tour of the Soviet Union, rather than a specific tour of
Central Asia” with the exception of Uzbekistan, “the crown jewel” having
within its borders the historical sites of Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva.
Although tourism in Kyrgyzstan is neither new nor unprecedented,
the Soviet rule had “created artificial tourism trading conditions within
Kyrgyzstan” (Palmer 2007, 651). The post-Soviet era conditions, how-
ever, would bring a totally different perspective to tourism activities in
the republic. As was the case in all of the other Central Asian republics, in
Kyrgyzstan too, the sector would be negatively affected by the worsening