Experts from the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) have held a series of workshops in Kyrgyzstan’s region of Issyk-Kul to enhance the competitiveness of the tourism and productive industries. Through the three types of workshops conducted as part of a project funded by the Russian Federation, the participants were introduced to environmentally sustainable practices in hotels, as well as promotional tools to foster public awareness and increase their revenues.
The first workshop explored eco-management practices in hotels, and two experts from Slovenia, Sonja Sibila and Gregor Schiemann, presented the requirements that need to be met for tourist accommodation to be certified with the European Union (EU) eco-label. “Most hotels in the EU adhere to the recommendations about saving measures in hotels and awareness-building for sustainable management practices,” said Sibila.
Following the “learning by doing” method, the participants were asked to develop innovative solutions to tackle various hotel management issues in an environmentally friendly manner.
The Slovenian experts also conducted a lecture for students and professors of the Bishkek University on the use of eco-labelling as a successful sustainable tourism management tool.
The following workshop dealt with the issue of product shaping for the tourism destination. In his opening remarks, Damir Monoldorov, First Deputy Plenipotentiary Representative of the Government in the Issyk-Kul Region, noted the importance of the event for the region and the market players. The participants were asked to identify potential attractions that could be clustered together for promotional purposes in order to increase tourism.
During the third workshop on tourism marketing, the participants discussed promotional strategies to encourage tourism in the region. Various tools and channels to effectively communicate information were presented, including traditional low-cost tools, such as social media, and engagement with local and regional media outlets.
Maksat Damir uulu, Head of the Tourism Department in the Ministry of Culture, Information and Tourism, said: “We need to put more focus on ecology in order to attract more tourists to the country and generate more income.”
In total, 179 participants attended UNIDO workshops, including 18 government officials, 61 representatives of hotels, hostels, and guest houses located along the Issyk-Kul Lake, 30 regional tour operators, 49 students and 21 teachers. Furthermore, two hotels were evaluated during the eco-labelling workshop and received recommendations for seeking an eco-label certificate.
Linking the tourism industry to productive activities in the country is one Kyrgyzstan’s Programme for Country Partnership key focuses.