Over the past year, several people have asked me, (as both the President of the Kyrgyz Association of Tour Operators, (KATO), and as a member of the board of the Destination Marketing Association, (DMA)), why I think we need two separate Associations.

1. The Associations have different aims and objectives

In fact, KATO and the DMA are just two of the many non-commercial associations which work in the sphere of tourism – for example: the Kyrgyz Community Based Tourism Association (KCBTA) and the Issyk Kul Service Providers Association. Each body has its own aims and objectives and each represents the specific interests of other participants in the tourism sector.

The KATO Charter lists four aims of the Association and twelve tasks.   The main aim is to secure Tourism as one of the main branches of the Kyrgyz economy.  However, KATO also has other roles, which can be summarized as: to represent and protect the interests of it members – Tour Operators.   One of the tasks to help fulfil these aims is: “To carry out joint advertising and informative activities together with other interested parties.”   In other words – marketing is one of the fundamental roles for which the association was established.

The DMA was created with the specific aims of: “promotion of Kyrgyzstan as a country of tourism and national tour products in the world’s tourism markets;” and “the development of tourism in Kyrgyzstan.”

Both Associations therefore share common aims and tasks.  There is, however, a big difference in that the purpose of the DMA is more specific – it concentrates on marketing the country as a tourist destination.

2. Tourism is wider than Tour Operators

The membership of KATO is predominantly, as its name suggests, comprised of Tour Operators.  It is possible for other social organizations, such as Institutions of Higher Education offering courses in Tourism, to join.

Tour Operators may represent one of the more easily identifiable beneficiaries of the work of the DMA – but they are not the only ones.   Tourism is a sector of the economy and involves a far wider range of participants: places offering accommodation (hotels, sanatoria, resorts, guesthouses, Bed and Breakfast); restaurants and cafes; transport companies (airlines, railways, bus operators, taxis, …); shops (for example: selling souvenirs); places of entertainment (casinos, cinemas, …); cultural institutions (museums, parks, monuments …which receive entrance and other fees); the government (local and national – which receive tax revenue).  It is right and proper that all of these have an opportunity to belong to the Association, to participate in and to contribute to its activities.

3. Marketing a country is a special type of activity – different from marketing a company and its services.

When asked, most tour operators say that the biggest handicap they face when trying to market their services is the general lack of awareness about Kyrgyzstan abroad.  Where is it?  What is available? What recreational opportunities are there?  … and so forth.  Over the years, in addition to attempting to interest potential in their particular services, many tour operators have found it necessary to inform them, first, about Kyrgyzstan.  The former is a legitimate task for a tour operator – the latter is an additional burden.

It is also true that for several years the representation of the Kyrgyz Republic at various exhibitions and Tourism Fairs was organized by KATO.  At first this was with the support of GTZ but after Max Haberstroh’s contract came to an end, the Association took on the role with the assistance of the government.  Attendance at Tourism Fairs, however, is only one aspect of marketing.  True, it is an important aspect – but is just one aspect.

In the past, individual companies have also produced general brochures, posters, CD’s, films, websites and other materials can be produced about the republic, it is a distraction and additional expenses (financial and in terms of time and effort) from their real task of trying to sell their wares.   It also leads to haphazard coverage and different (contrasting and possibly conflicting) images being created.  It is in the interests of the company to highlight those aspects of the country which are most relevant to their own products – so some aspects will be highlighted and others ignored, or under represented.

The DMA does not exist to sell tours … the DMA exists to create and raise AWARENESS of the country and its tourism potential.  Although this has implications and benefits for tourism generally – there are others.  It can affect the image of the nation as a whole; it can affect investment proposals.

One way in which this awareness can be increased is to create opportunities for exposure of the country in the world’s media.  This can involve “Familiarisation Tours” for journalists – a task which is unlikely to be undertaken by individual tour operators – who will concentrate on providing such opportunities for tour operators, (existing and potential partners) who will send clients to them in the future.  Instead of creating a showpiece of the country – they will concentrate on providing a taste of the services and opportunities that they can offer.

Another way in which the DMA can fulfil its task is to monitor press coverage of the republic abroad to see how Kyrgyzstan is perceived in its target markets – and then organize a follow up.  For example: if a story appears in the British press about the tradition of hunting with eagles, then try to place another about the release of Boris Yeltsin’s eagle to the wild.  Again, this is an opportunity which – if left to individual companies – will be disorganised and may be missed entirely.

4. Involvement of the State Sector

There are several possible models for the operation of a Tourism Marketing Board, for example:

1. A state run agency;
2. A quasi-autonomous body with representation and contributions from both state and private sectors;
3. A private company.

Generally, throughout the world, the work of promoting a region or country, (creating a favourable image), is usually seen as part of the role of the state.  Even in countries like the United Kingdom, where there is no Ministry of Tourism, the government is involved in this sort of activity.   The government has a definite role to play – apart from the aim of increasing the tax revenues from tourism, they also have an interest in protecting the image and reputation of the state.  Often, however, governments work in partnership with the private sector – which also has a direct financial incentive to participate in the process.

When the project design team for the DMA examined the various models, they recommended one based on the experience of many other countries.  They stressed the need for both partners, (public and private), to work in partnership, both contributing to the financing and managing of the marketing activities.  This was a condition of the project receiving approval from Switzerland.  The money being contributed by Berne is Swiss taxpayers’ money – and they are accountable for it.  They want the project to be successful and they consider that to be so it needs a commitment from both public and private sectors.

In order for the project to proceed, therefore, the government had to be given a managerial role within the marketing organization.  If this was to be KATO, then it would mean the government having a role in the day to day running of the Association … which could lead to problems such as a conflict of interest.

As a result, it was decided to set up a separate, specialist, Association with the original intiators from the Private sector and provision for a Management Board comprising equal representation between representatives of state bodies and representatives elected by the membership.

So, although it is possible that KATO could perform the tasks of the DMA … it is probably better that there are a number of separate, specialist, organizations to fulfill the different roles, some of which would represent the the interests of specific participants in the tourist industry (such as tour operators, or Bed and Breakfast homestays) and another would concentrate on marketing the country as a tourist destination.   Also, although the stimulus for creating of the DMA was the implementation of the Swiss project – it was just the catalyst which brought about a logical development, and the format chosen for the Association (as a joint venture between the state and private sectors) was based on a wider international experience and represents the best option for the successful implementation of such a venture.