Sustainable Destination Management
Strategies in the OIC Member Countries
117
nations possess the same historical roots, culture, and traditions, and so, a collaboration
between these states and service providers generate some tourism potential.393
Developing the current Silk Road initiative in Uzbekistan includes a significant list of
stakeholders:
1. All the 15 institutes or universities of Uzbekistan offering bachelor’s and master’s
degrees in the subject of tourism and hospitality.
2. GosComTourism, which now holds a ministerial role (former Uzbektourism held a
different status which was ranked lower than the ministerial one). This shift also means
they now have appropriate financing.
3. The Academy of Science of Uzbekistan plays a critical role, as they provide continuous
historical research, and now they have reached a point in which they are cooperating
with GosComTourism on Silk Road issues. The Institute of History is also operating
under The Academy of Science.
4. The Ministry of Culture, as all historical objects are in their sphere.
5. The UNWTO Silk Road Programme Office, which is located in the office of the national
PR center (a substructure of GosComTourism). They work on a number of initiatives
and collaborate with the head office of UNWTO in Madrid.
6. Private businesses, such as tour-operating companies, DMCs. They deliver the Silk Road
as a product to foreign tourists. It is also well known that Uzbekistan plays the role of
a tourist hub for the neighboring countries of Central Asia. And Uzbek tour operators,
within their combined tour packages, provide a significant flow of tourists to
neighboring Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan.394
In 2013, two heritage corridors were nominated for establishment. The China-Kazakhstan-
Kyrgyzstan Silk Road Corridor was one submitted to the World Heritage Centre. This corridor
follows the southern part of Kazakhstan and connects China with Iran, and it also covers 7-8
monuments and sites (in the territory of Kazakhstan). 395 The Silk Road Corridor crossing
Uzbekistan and Tajikistan was the other nomination.396
Governance and Management
The following two figures illustrate the types of stakeholders involved in the Silk Road as well
as its governance structure. As the figure below demonstrates, the stakeholders involved in the
Silk Road include international development organizations, non-governmental organizations,
public and private sector entities, and educational institutions.397
393 Baxtishodovich, Suyunovich, and Kholiqulov, "The Start-up of Tourism in Central Asia Case of Uzbekistan," 225.
394 Interview with Head of the Department of Scientific Research and Work with Educational Institutions of GosComTourism
395 Interview with Deputy Chairman of the Board of Kazakh Tourism
396 "World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism," UNWTO, accessed October 13, 2019,
397 UNWTO. 2014. Silk Road Action Plan 2014/2015.