Times of Central Asia 2 August, 2004

Experts think that the Chimgan Mountains are quite attractive for adventure tourism. The required tourist infrastructure (including mountain ski tracks, hotels, rescue stations, and a road) was built here in the 1960s. Some 15 years ago the Chimgan Mountains were one of the major attractions of the Tashkent province and all of Uzbekistan. Then, in the summer seasons, up to 3,000 visitors from Tashkent came to the Chimgans every workday and up to 10,000 every weekend. In the winter, the daily number of visitors reached 3,000-5,000.

The Chimgans were interesting for tourists from the Soviet republics (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Ukraine) and foreign countries (up to 2,000 per season, about 80% of them from the socialist countries). The Chimgans were also the venue of Soviet and international competitions in mountaineering and mountain skiing.

Today, however, the Chimgan's tourist potential is not used to its full capacity due to economic, political, and social factors caused by Uzbekistan's transformation. Now Uzbek citizens have the opportunity to visit foreign countries, which extends the choice of travel destinations. At the same time, the services of local hotels and tourist facilities do not meet international standards, which scares tourists away. In addition, border problems restrict travel routes in Central Asia.

"These are temporary problems caused by inefficient management and marketing," thinks Victor Tsoi, chief of the TACIS project to preserve the biological diversity of the Western Tien Shan. "The Uzbek government is already making large financial investments in the development of the Charvak-Chimgan recreational area. They are building infrastructure facilities - for a supply of electricity, telephone and cellular communication, a sewer system, and a water supply. Roads are under reconstruction. They complete buildings whose construction was frozen because of a lack of funds."

Local residents, however, are not fully involved in the tourism process here. Some render services to visitors (such as renting horses and working as guides in the mountains), but this business is unorganized and rather spontaneous. Moreover, this business is illegal since local people do not pay taxes.

"In many countries the local community is involved in tourism, which is called Community Based Tourism (CBT)," said Tsoi. "This includes accommodation and boarding at homes of local people who offer to tourists various activities, souvenirs, handicrafts, and acceptable service standards. For this purpose, they establish an association that has a legal status and conducts all judicial and financial procedures. With the help of experts and local tour operators, the association would create a tourist product."

The TACIS project is implementing this concept in the Chimgan Mountains. "First we assessed the tourist capacity of Chimgan Village, the center of the local community," says Tsoi. "We assessed human resources to be involved in tourism. Local teachers of foreign languages could work as interpreters; geography teachers could organize interesting tours working as guides; and physical education teachers could be responsible for sports events and excursions. We could also involve local teachers of other school subjects for such activities as handicraft production, creation of an ethnographic museum, and organization of folk music and dance shows performed by local school students and villagers."

Of course, these people must undergo special training. Guides must not only know travel routes but also be able to give first medical aid, make decisions in emergency situations (such as threats of landslides or heavy rain), and ensure the safety of tourists. It is also necessary to certify services and travel routes. This scheme works in many countries and has proved efficient. CBT has functioned in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan for several years already. The TACIS project is introducing the scheme in Uzbekistan."

Early in June TACIS experts started developing a tour called "Landscapes of the Chimgan Mountains." This is a five-hour equestrian tour with a stop at a local shepherd who will offer to tourists koumiss (fermented mare's milk) and other traditional foods. Tourists will also have the opportunity to see the cooking process.

This tourist product can be offered to local tour operators and later to regional and international tourist markets. The tour "Landscapes of the Chimgan Mountains" can be easily adjusted to any category of tourists - young and elderly, family couples and individuals, business people and intelligentsia, and locals and foreigners.

The tour can be made even more interesting by adding trips to areas with prehistoric seashells (for those interested in paleontology) or visits to Humsan and Brichmulla villages (a paradise for archaeologists).

This equestrian tour can become part of the travel route, Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan-Kyrgyzstan, the three countries participating in the inter-state project to preserve the biodiversity of the Western Tien Shan. The new combined tour would last several days and include various tourist activities in each country on the route.

A Dutch expert who visited Chimgan Village in April 2004 said that the place has a unique tourist attractiveness that will make western people cover a thousand kilometers to see it. "You must only provide the required quality of a tourist product, promote it in the market, and sell it, as many tourist companies in the world do it," he stressed.