Postcard from Bishkek

Tourism is a global industry and tourists have a wide choice of possible destinations and there are many factors which affect their choices, for example: the location; landscape; activities; facilities timescale, and, (as an intensively competitive industry), the price. Among the main factors that they will consider are the issues of safety and security. Globally, […]

Last year, Kyrgyzstan adopted a new tourism brand – the winning entry in a competition depicting a multicoloured circle with swirling patterns resembling traditional Kyrgyz ozori, (pattern), portraying the sun, mountains, lakes and a swimmer with the slogan “So much to discover”. Although it was selected from about 40 different entries by a commission representing many […]

It is that time of year again … the tourist season is about to commence and everyone starts to ask what is in store for us? … will it be a good season? … what problems do we face? … and how do we set about trying to solve them … Being the head of […]

It’s nice to be asked for an opinion … and as I am fond of saying, I am one of those people who “likes the sound of his own voice”, so being asked to give a speech at a function is a double bonus.   Most of the time I get asked to give a […]

As well as being the Director of a tour company which runs a hotel in Bishkek, I also serve as the Director of a company that runs a guesthouse in the city of Naryn.  I remember that, as we approached the city on my first visit to inspect the guesthouse, we arrived at a fork […]

A short while ago, I was having lunch with the publisher of Open Central Asia, (a quarterly magazine, published in the UK, which aims to connect and highlight the links between Europe and Central Asia), and he was asked if I would write an article for the magazine about the Presidential election here in Kyrgyzstan. […]

I received an email last weekend from the local television programme, “Open Kyrgyzstan“.  It’s a discussion programme which   tackles a variety of social, economic and politic topics and they have several times in the past considered questions about the development of Tourism in the Kyrgyz Republic. As we approach the start of the tourist […]

During 2010, Kyrgyzstan has seen a drastic reduction in the number of tourists that have visited the country as a direct result of events that have taken place in the country throughout the year.  There were tourists, but many less than in previous years.  This has led to a reduction of income for those working […]

This weekend I got a bit of a surprise and although to say that I was “gobsmacked” might be a bit of an overstatement, I was certainly taken aback.

The events of 6th and 7th of April in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, were nothing short of extraordinary. They brought with them great sadness, renewed hope, tragic destruction, victorious triumph and, above all, confusion about what to do next. Ian Claytor, General Director of the Celestial Mountains Companies in Kyrgyzstan, has lived in Bishkek for nearly 15 […]