A Prospective Market
I won’t say that Naryn is one of my favourite places in Kyrgyzstan – but I do have a soft spot for it … for both the city and the oblast.
Of course, one of the reasons for this is probably down to the fact that we have a guesthouse in the city. You could say that I have a vested interest in the subject. Certainly I have an interest in trying to see the development of tourism in the region. The more tourists means more visitors which, hopefully, would mean more guests staying in the guesthouse.
Although this is certainly true, my interest in the city and the region goes far beyond this pure mercenary motivation. In some respects, I think that Naryn has, over the years, had a bad press.
It’s not really a beautiful city, it’s a garrison town with square, soviet style blocks of flats or small, one story houses made from glina – “mud” bricks. In summer it can be hot, dry and dusty … in winter: cold, (it’s said to be the coldest city in Kyrgyzstan), wet and slushy. A lot of work has been undertaken, however, to try and brighten the place up … there’s a small museum, an art gallery, an interesting mosque and a few other attractions … but not much that marks it out as a “destination”. The population is almost entirely Kyrgyz … which means that once they reach a certain age they seem to forget how to smile and instead adopt an Asiatic tendency to stand and stare at visitors walking past, which can be off-putting. Having said that, however, the people are friendly once you get past their initial reserves.
The city is fairly run down economically and there is a lot of poverty … and, unfortunately a little problem with vodka consumption. There is, however, a certain, “get up and go” aspect to their character. The city council, for example, have been working with the University of Central Asia, (an international university established by the Aga Khan Foundation with campuses in three countries: Kyrgyzstan, Tajikstan and Kazakhstan) and and the German agency for technical cooperation, GTZ, to design a plan for the development of the tourism potential of the region.
The region is quite a large one with quite diverse aspect. Son Kul and Tash Rabat are just two of the most well known attractions. There are many beautiful spots and viewpoints. the market town of Kochkor is always lively and was the original birthplace of the Community Based Tourism movement – one of the great success stories of Kyrgyz Tourism.
Unfortunately, however, many people only pass through and don’t take the time to linger a little and appreciate what there is.
So, when a local official phoned me and asked to set up a meeting to discuss tourism … I wasn’t sure what to expect. When we did meet, I was fairly blown out of my chair.
To be honest, I was expecting that she wanted to talk about the implementation of the development plan. Now, some aspects of the development plan are very interesting – whereas other, perhaps, are a little ambitious and, in my opinion a little unrealistic. Still the plan shows a willingness to look seriously at the issue and to try and develop innovative measures that will help to break the region out of the stagnation that it risks falling into if people simply sit on their hands and wait for tourists to arrive.
As it happens, she didn’t want to talk about the plan at all … but rather about “cross border” cooperation with our neighbours.
Our neighbours in this context means: China.
Now, I have been arguing for a long time that China is a potential market that Kyrgyzstan should try to develop and exploit … and so I found the suggestion very promising. China is our neighbour. It is huge … there are millions – no, billions – of Chinese … and thanks to the rapidly growing Chinese economy, many of them are reasonably affluent. By no means all of them ,… but many are. They have disposable income and are looking for ways to spend it – indeed, the Chinese government create extended holiday periods in an attempt to get the population to go and spend. Many want to travel and the Chinese government are willing to let them … they have signed special agreements with some countries to encourage their citizens to travel abroad. Many countries worldwide are seeking to enter the market and attract Chinese tourists … from Australia and New Zealand to African and European countries. Why not Kyrgyzstan?
However, at the same time, I always point point out that for the present, at least, we have no plans to do concentrate on this market. We have Chinese clients – from Hong Kong and Macao, from Taiwan and Chinese citizens who are resident in other parts of the world as well as the occasional client from mainland China. So, why the apparent contradiction?
It’s simple … in order to work in the Chinese market there are several important problems to overcome, as there are in developing any new market.
The first is the provision of information and attracting awareness. The Kyrgyz have never really tried to attract the attention of Chinese tourists … so there is little awareness about the country and what it has to offer. There is little information available in Chinese. It is not clear what Kyrgyzstan has to offer that will serve as attractions. What can Kyrgyzstan offer that can’t be found in China. One thing might be the mountains and natural environment … another might be the historical connections with the Silk Road, and characters such as Fa’Hsien and Hsuan Tsang. Then there is the traditional nomadic lifestyle of the Kyrgyz – but China has its own Kyrgyz population – the area just across the border in Xinjiang province is a Kyrgyz autonomous County. One thing that would p[robably be a “sure fire” success would be the provision of casinos in resorts … the Chinese love gambling … look at the success of Macao which if it isn’t actually bigger it certainly rivals places like Atlantic City and Las Vegas. The trouble with this is that the Kyrgyz, (outside Bishkek, that is), are not very keen on Casinos. There is hope, however, and signs that things are changing, … for example, by all accounts the Kyrgyz exhibit at the Shanghai World Fair is attracting attention … so there are signs of progress – although there is still a lot to do.
The second is access to the country. China is our neighbour, so it should be easy for people to arrive here from China. However, the land border is a mountainous area and the roads can be pretty difficult. Whereas a Western tourist might be prepared for some hardships as being a little “exotic” as they travel the Silk Road, the Chinese are less likely to accept this, especially when the roads on the Chinese side of the border are so much better on the whole than ours. There are plans for the reconstruction of both the Torugart and Irkeshtam roads – but these plans have been talked about for years, and even if finance has now been arranged, the reconstruction will still take several years. The development of the railway might help … Jules Verne wrote a short novel about a railway that went from Europe to Peking … but even if it had been planned in his day … and the Chinese have made great strides in extending their system as far as Kashgar … and have plans for further extension through Kyrgyzstan in Uzbekistan and beyond … these plans have still to be implemented. Although there are high hopes that they will soon jump from the drawing board into reality … it is likely to be a long time yet before they actually do so. At the moment there are flights between Bishkek and Urumqi … but that is all. A few years ago there were flights to Beijing as well … but they were cancelled and, as far as I am aware, there are no plans to reintroduce them. As a result, there is a limited capacity for bringing people into the country. It might help if the route could be reopened, and perhaps flights established from Kashgar to Bishkek, Naryn or Osh … but it is a “chicken and egg” situation … which comes first: flights or passengers. Without one, the other probably won’t materialize very soon. So, even if we are able to attract the interest of Chinese tourists in Kyrgyzstan, getting them here … and back home again will not be easy.
The biggest problem by far, however, is the question of visas … to get a visa to visit Kyrgyzstan Chinese citizens must have an invitation and receive visa support from the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here in Bishkek. Before they will approve an invitation they have to submit the application to a commission which includes several government agencies, such as the security services, for consideration. This process takes time … a minimum of two weeks … but often longer. In our case, the record stands at 72 days! We got approval just days before the client was due to fly to Bishkek. This is just the invitation – not the application for the visa itself … this still has to be submitted at the embassy in Beijing or consulate in Urumqi … and that involves yet more delay. I don’t blame the Chinese clients who give up and say: “Kyrgyzstan apparently doesn’t want us to visit – so we don’t want to come any more!”
I could try and speculate about why I think this happens … but I don’t think that would help … the fact is simply the fact these three barriers mean that it just isn’t cost effective to work at trying to develop this potentially valuable market … at the moment.
That’s why I was so interested to hear that Naryn is thinking seriously about this issue … and attempting to raise these questions. If they can help to eliminate – or at least diminish – these barriers, then there is hope yet.
Maybe I had better start learning a little bit of Chinese.
Bishkek