TOURISM IN KYRGYZSTAN - Tourism in Central Asia: Cultural Potential and Challenges - page 279

has been suggested that this failure would negatively affect the country's
image as a weak state that cannot even protect its own borders and turn
into one of the major reasons behind Akaev's eventual fall (Sarı, 2010).
Such incidents, when combined with other domestic disturbances fur-
ther damage Kyrgyzstan's image as a tourist destination country. As Oktay
(2011) indicates, “It is obvious that tourists place great emphasis on secu-
rity and peace aspects of the countries they prefer to travel. People are not
inclined to visit those countries at risk.” In addition to its own domestic
instabilities, Kyrgyzstan is also negatively affected by the spill-over effects
of the cross-border issues, especially as regards to Tajikistan, a country that
suffered heavily from civil war, unrest and lawlessness (Kinzer, 1999).
THE LEGAL PROBLEMS
A final group of problems that hinders the development of tourism in
Kyrgyzstan is related to the insufficiencies of the legal framework of
the country, having a negative impact on the development of tourism in
Kyrgyzstan. 25 For example the laws regulating the banking system are in-
adequate to support the tourism sector and/or meet the financial needs
of foreign tourists (Azizova, 2010). Furthermore, despite the fact that
Kyrgyzstan is one of the most liberal countries in terms of opportunities
for foreign investment, there are still certain bureaucratic obstacles for
foreign investors who want to develop the tourism sector in the country
(Seval et al., 2003). For example, there are restrictions on land property
rights for such potential foreign investors (Oktay, 2011).
One other very important problem for foreign tourists is the customs and
visa procedures for entering the country. First of all, not all countries have
a Kyrgyz Embassy or consulate. Furthermore, “there is a good amount of
paperwork and waiting time involved when obtaining a visa” making it quite
“a hassle” for many foreign tourists (Oktay, 2011). It has also been indicated
that the cost of tourist visas is too high. Furthermore, in addition to paying the
visa cost, tourists also have to pay fees for entering recreational places such
as national parks and/or participating to the “alpine tours” (Werner, 2003).
Such problems resulting from the lack of a sufficient, coordinated legal
framework to support tourism is another obstacle that the country faces.
25 Some scholars also suggest that there are several problems in the implementation of the existing laws
passed for the purpose of developing tourism, further exacerbating the situation (Seval et al., 2003).