Sustainable Destination Management
Strategies in the OIC Member Countries
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Integration of capacity-building, start-ups, and local communities. Central Asia’s
exceptional cultural and living heritage creates incredible opportunities for tourism.420 One of
the expected outcomes of tourism corridors is enhanced regional and international
cooperation, as well as stakeholder engagement across all levels. Today, heritage corridors can
potentially offer economic benefits to local communities and cross-cultural exchanges through
tourism development. Taking the Almaty-Bishkek economic corridor initiative as an example,
it can be said that tourism is one of the most significant components, as it includes other sectors
such as agriculture, capacity building for human resources, etc. As for tourism, those overseeing
the corridor are developing a variety of transborder tours with varying means of
transportation (walking, biking, driving tours). Each type of traveler is presented with a
different set of routes and attractions. The next step is then to coordinate with both
governments to implement transborder tours.421
Taking into consideration that tourism along the Silk Road is mainly historical and cultural,
tourist guides are also critical. UNWTO’s Silk Road Programme, which aims to improve the
standard of heritage interpretation and improve visitor experience, announced the Quality
Guide Training Initiative in 2015. The successful pilot course for participants from five
countries (China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan) took place in Khiva,
resulting in an international pool of Silk Road heritage guides and Silk Road heritage guide
trainers. Additionally, a specific Silk Road Guide Handbook was developed and distributed to
all participants.422
Over the last two years, GosComTourism has launched many projects and released funds to
sponsor tourism projects and start-ups. There is a special department that takes care of and
supports all new projects, and start-ups focused on tourism in Uzbekistan, as well as in Central
Asia. It is now a government institution that provides money for tourism development in
Uzbekistan. Previously, Uzbektourism was an institution solely controlling tourism politics, and
the growth of tourism depended on the private sector, mainly DMCs and small stakeholders,
such as private hotels. 423
Funding sources: Countries must be proactive when it comes to funding initiatives. Funding
is a complicated issue in UNWTO, and there are budgetary constraints. Concerning the funding
to support the Silk Road initiative, only a very minimal budget is provided for staff and
operations. The Silk Road Programme (which is now a department that falls under Technical
Cooperation) is understaffed and has been struggling to increase its budget by earning money
through participation in EU-funded projects (like VeroTour), individual project sponsorship
(as in the case of the Maritime Silk Road study, which was undertaken by a Chinese company),
or substantial support from countries hosting events and airline sponsorships, for example, for
its Annual Silk Road Task Force meetings.424
The national company, Kazakh Tourism, is fully funded and owned by the government. It
participates yearly in international travel fairs, such as ITB in Berlin, WTM in London, KOTFA
in Seoul, ITE in Hong Kong, COTTM in Beijing, and CITM in Shanghai. It is fully government-
420 "Developing a Sustainable Tourism Strategy for the Silk Roads Heritage Corridors."
421 Interview with Deputy Chairman of the Board of Kazakh Tourism
422 "Enhancing Silk Road Interpretation and Quality Guide Training," UNWTO, last modified September, 2016,
423 Interview with Director of Silk Road Destinations DMO
424 Email correspondence with former head of UNWTO Silk Road Programme, Silk Road specialist on sustainable tourism
development