Sustainable Destination Management
Strategies in the OIC Member Countries
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people. As was mentioned by an interview partner, they face several difficulties in managing
this project, and only with contributions from foreign organizations and institutions can they
continue because, as an agency, they have no experience related to how such projects must be
managed.458
Managing the profitability of entrepreneurs. Uzbekistan has recently enacted some
supportive policies for businesses – particularly for the hospitality industry. There is
reimbursement for 4-star hotel construction costs of up to $4,210 per room constructed,
and up to $6,850 USD per room constructed in 5-star hotels. This will be paid out of the
tourism fund of GosComTourism459 and will stimulate a boom in hotel construction in the
tourist cities of Uzbekistan.
Another example is the benefits and preferences for entrepreneurs who create free Wi-Fi
zones. According to this, the taxable base of business entities that have established free
Wi-Fi access zones in their premises is reduced by the amount of expenses spent on the
purchase of equipment (necessary for connecting to the Internet, in particular, routers,
communication cables, etc.) and the acquisition of Internet traffic to deploy a wireless
access zone of sufficient quality.
The taxable base of business entities is reduced by up to $10,500 USD, for the
reconstruction, overhaul, and construction of modern sanitary facilities (public toilets) in
tourism sites and on roads. 460
Supply and demand and seasonality management. The tourism seasons in Central Asian
countries, depending on tourist specifics, vary from very short (2-3 months per year in the
mountain areas of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan) to quite short (4-5 months per year for so-
called city tours ). Seasonality is thus a big problem for all stakeholders. In Uzbekistan, tourism
activities are mainly conducted over just five months – in winter and summer, they almost stop.
GosComTourism understands the problem of seasonality, and they have begun to support
tourism actors by regulating/coordinating with other ministries to move big governmental
events to the off-season period. 461
Due to the climatic conditions in Kazakhstan, seasons are very rigid, especially in the northern
and central regions. Kazakh Tourism is attempting to diversify tourism products, and there
have been both successful and unsuccessful initiatives. One way of diversifying the product was
hosting festivals in autumn and even in winter, such as ice-skiing, but these have not affected
tourist numbers yet. Some ski resorts are trying to use the colder temperatures to attract
winter clothing manufacturers to test their products in Kazakhstan, or they are working to
attract producers of winter tires for campaign purposes. These are more creative options and
can convert existing shortcomings into success. Like turning imperfect roads into off-road
driving adventures.462
From this year, to reduce the seasonality problems in Uzbekistan, GosComTourism
comprehensively encourages MICE tourism and festival development to attract more tourists
458 Interview with Director of Silk Road Destinations DMO
459 Interview with Head of the Department of Scientific Research and Work with Educational Institutions of GosComTourism
460 "Санитарно-Гигиенические Узлы," Государственный Комитет Республики Узбекистан по развитию туризма,
accessed October 12, 2019,
461 Interview with Director of Silk Road Destinations DMO
462 Interview with Deputy Chairman of the Board of Kazakh Tourism