TOURISM IN KYRGYZSTAN - Tourism in Central Asia: Cultural Potential and Challenges - page 270

the development of the tourism potential. Airline travel is still under mod-
ern standards and the airports are insufficient (Capisani 2000). Likewise,
roads are also of poor quality and inadequate (Azizova, 2010). This “weak
transportation infrastructure” (Mahnovsi et al., 2007) is partly due to the
mountainous terrain that limits and sometimes hinders both domestic and
international travel (Capisani, 2000; The World Bank, 2005). For example,
in Issyk-Kul, one of the most important tourist attractions in Kyrgyzstan,
there is only one “dilapidated paved road” and no functional airports
(Oktay, 2011). Likewise, in Cholpan-Ata, due to lack of fuel, the airport is
often closed (Capisani, 2000).
Another important problem that the country took over as part of the
Soviet legacy is the poor quality of accommodation facilities (Oktay,
2011). Hotels and guest houses are not comfortable and suitable enough
when compared with international standards (Capisani, 2000; Dlugy,
1999). Furthermore, they are also not of sufficient quantity in case there
is an intensive tourism demand for the country (Kızılırmak and Oktay,
2008).
One other related problem is the level and quality of services that are
below modern standards. Despite the fact that many Western tourists have
mentioned the Kyrgyz being “friendliest people they've run into” and the
“warmth of the welcome” they have encountered there (Dlugy, 1999),
most of the services in the guest houses and hotels are well behind in meet-
ing their expectations (Azizova, 2010; Oktay, 2011). The people serving in
these facilities generally lack professional knowledge and skills, as well as
the mastery of foreign languages (Seval et al., 2003).
One final issue that needs to be taken into account is how the Soviet
legacy still has a deep impact on the general framework in which the civil
society institutions, which can be seen as one of the main actors to con-
tribute to the development of the tourism sector, function in Kyrgyzstan.
These institutions, even when they get their funding and advice from the
Western countries, still seek assistance from the state. The government,
however, “neither interferes with their activities nor provides support for
them” (McMann, 2004). The civic sphere is, to a large extent, working
under the Soviet economic legacies of “party-state ownership of munici-
pal buildings and minimal production of consumer goods” which in turn
forces the civic activists in the country “to seek office space, facilities,
free utilities and transportation from local authorities” (McMann, 2004).
This rather peculiar understanding of civil society in the country is another