Sustainable Destination Management
Strategies in the OIC Member Countries
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political changes between the Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan governments have also allowed
for the previously far stricter visa policy of Turkmenistan towards its neighbors to be softened.
Turkmenistan is following Uzbekistan’s lead in easing up its visa restrictions.435
The governments of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are also working on legislation for the Silk
Visa. After a pilot launch, the next countries that will be involved are Azerbaijan and
Kyrgyzstan. However, one issue of contention is that Uzbekistan is lobbying for the Silk Visa to
just be an entry stamp, not a sticker, which it believes is the easiest way for tourists to travel in
this part of the world. There are also some logistical issues to be settled within the next year or
two.
A recent presidential decree in Uzbekistan increased the visa-free-entry country list by 20
countries. In total, Uzbekistan has increased this list to 85 and now holds the second position
after Georgia in CIS on visa-free entry metrics.436
However, an expanding visa-free list in both countries does not discount the efforts being made
to launch a Silk Visa because it a) is a useful marketing instrument for old markets (now visa-
free), as under a Silk Road visa a positive mass content can be created and will give these
countries more visibility in the international media and b) will become a door to the new, Asian
markets, for instance, China, which is on the visa list for both countries.437
The Department of Tourismof the Ministry of Culture, Information, and Tourism of Kyrgyzstan,
developed a legislative proposal for a visa-free regime for some countries, including citizens of
China and India with valid Schengen, Japanese, USA, and UK visa. 438
Data transparency. The number of arrivals to Uzbekistan in 2018 was 5.4 million. Before
2015, UNWTO didn’t recognize Uzbekistan’s statistics. Starting from 2016, the country has
been working on implementing a new methodology, and its statistics since 2017 are fully
available and are published and accepted on a global level.439
GosComTourism collects feedback from travelers and analyzes it; however, accessing this
information is troublesome for DMCs. This, unfortunately, means potentially missing out on
precious data that could help develop business.440
Responsible engagement. The development of responsible and sustainable tourism practices
has been one of the key issues for all high-level UNWTO Silk Road gatherings – Silk Road
Ministers meetings and the biannual International Silk Road meetings.441 The thesis from the
last Silk Road Ministers Meeting says: “All of sustainable nature, the proposed initiatives will
allow us to further advance and work towards our main vision: to make the historic Silk Road
routes the most important transnational tourism route of the 21 st century.” 442
435 Interview with Director of Silk Road Destinations DMO
436 Interview with Head of the Department of Scientific Research and Work with Educational Institutions of GosComTourism
437 Interview with Director of Silk Road Destinations DMO
438 Interview with Deputy Director of the Department of Tourism, the Ministry of Culture, Information and Tourism of
Kyrgyzstan
439 Interview with Head of the Department of Scientific Research and Work with Educational Institutions of GosComTourism
440 Interview with Director of Silk Road Destinations DMO
441 Email correspondence with former head of UNWTO Silk Road Programme, Silk Road specialist on sustainable tourism
development
442 "Silk Road Ministers Meeting at ITB Berlin 2019," UNWTO, last modified March 6, 2019,