Sustainable Destination Management
Strategies in the OIC Member Countries
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television presenter, David Baddiel. The aim was to uncover the most extraordinary sites and
the most intriguing stories from the Silk Road and reveal how ancient exchanges had a critical
impact on the future development of the world.513 The project was an international success and
aired globally, with an outreach of over 2.5 billion audience members. Another example is a
collaboration with the BBC for a two-episode documentary on the Silk Road hosted by
renowned historian, Dr. Sam Willis (focused on the arts, heritage and culture of the Silk Road,
the series featured the Silk Road countries of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Turkey, Italy, and
China514), which was seen by 152 million subscribers in 120 territories on BBC World.
3. Creating a unique Silk Road Guides training scheme with WFTGA and UNESCO.515
4. In the area of knowledge transfer and capacity building training, numerous workshops were
delivered with UNWTO Affiliate Members and UNESCO as well as skills training and service
excellence for tour operators, tourism, and heritage guides on international marketing
strategies, etc.516
What Can be Improved. The historical absence of market-based economic development is a
challenge for Central Asia, which has other unique challenges such as low service quality, vast
distances, landlocked economies, and challenging terrain. However, Central Asia also has
advantages, such as well-educated populations that, in many cases, share languages, culture,
and history, and all of which can help the concept of economic and cultural tourism corridors
to succeed. 517
Post-Soviet states are still cash-based economies, and travelers are often wary of doing
business with local companies via wire transfer or other means of payment that do not protect
against fraudulent activity. 518
Informational support is necessary to create a high level of awareness of the Silk Road before
further steps can be done. On NTO and partner websites, a dedicated section for the Silk Road
with synchronized information including each country’s own Silk Road unique selling points
have to be established. Through the utilization of social media, it will help to engage consumers
in Silk Road marketing campaigns.519
First of all, the five “stans” of Central Asia have to clearly position themselves as Silk Road
destinations and as a single product, in addition to their national tourism strategy (however,
the important point is that they should not conduct individual Silk Road activities without
coordination with other Silk Road countries). Kazakh Tourism has recently launched a new
campaign called TravelStan . This will be launched on the CNBC, RBK, and EuroSport TV
channels. The idea is to show Kazakhstan first but then extending this concept to other
513 "'David Baddiel on the Silk Road' to Air on Sunday 21 February at 9pm on the Discovery Channel UK," UNWTO, last
modified February, 2016,
discovery-channel-uk.
514 "BBC Documentary on the Silk Road Hosted by Renowned Historian Dr. SamWillis," UNWTO, last modified May, 2016,
515 Email correspondence with former head of UNWTO Silk Road Programme, Silk Road specialist on sustainable tourism
development
516 Patrick Fritz, "Technical Cooperation Opportunities Along the Silk Road," UNWTO, accessed October 12, 2019,
517 "Operationalizing Economic Corridors in Central Asia. A Case Study of the Almaty–Bishkek Corridor".
518 "The Goal of Silk Road Explore."
519 "Building a Stronger Silk Road: Strategic Recommendations for Enhancing Tourism with a Special Focus on Central Asia
Compiled by UNWTO in Collaboration with a Team of International Experts."