{"id":4064,"date":"2024-06-26T19:24:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-26T13:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eged-ca.org\/?p=4064"},"modified":"2026-08-11T19:45:05","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T13:45:05","slug":"sustainable-tourism-strengthens-local-economic-development-in-southern-kyrgyzstan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eged-ca.org\/en\/2024\/06\/sustainable-tourism-strengthens-local-economic-development-in-southern-kyrgyzstan\/","title":{"rendered":"Sustainable Tourism Strengthens Local Economic Development in Southern Kyrgyzstan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"563\" height=\"375\" data-id=\"4060\" src=\"https:\/\/eged-ca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/26062024_Osh1.png.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4060\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On 25 June 2024, representatives of guesthouses, yurt camps, tourism destinations, local governments, district administrations and NGOs gathered in Osh for a practical training on sustainable regional tourism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The training was organized by the Development Policy Institute (DPI) under the <strong>Effective Governance for Economic Development (EGED) Programme<\/strong>, funded by the UK Government and implemented in cooperation with ACTED.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The training strengthened participants\u2019 capacity to make local tourism <strong>more environmentally responsible, economically viable and beneficial to local communities<\/strong>. Participants explored practical approaches based on five principles: reducing environmental impact, preserving cultural heritage, supporting local economies, promoting social inclusion, and improving visitor experience and awareness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1099\" height=\"733\" src=\"https:\/\/eged-ca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/26062024_Osh2.png.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4062\" srcset=\"https:\/\/eged-ca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/26062024_Osh2.png.jpg 1099w, https:\/\/eged-ca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/26062024_Osh2.png-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1099px) 100vw, 1099px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cTourism contributes significantly to economic opportunities for local entrepreneurs. At the same time, tourism stakeholders need to understand and minimise its impact on local communities and the environment\u201d, said Ainura Balakunova, DPI consultant and training facilitator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Participants were introduced to practical green tourism solutions and initiatives, including <strong>SCORE4Climate, PERETO and WasteNet.kg<\/strong>, as well as opportunities for eco-certification, carbon footprint assessment and climate self-assessment. Particular interest was shown in solutions that can be applied locally, including eco-sanitation and solar collectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>From knowledge to practical action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A key result of the training was the participants\u2019 increased ability to use digital tools to promote their tourism businesses and reach customers directly. They explored the practical use of Instagram, Google Maps, Booking.com, Airbnb and TripAdvisor for destination promotion, customer communication and online bookings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"624\" height=\"416\" src=\"https:\/\/eged-ca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/26062024_Osh.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4058\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.500018780753484;width:800px;height:auto\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During the practical session, participants <strong>created and completed business profiles on WhatsApp Business<\/strong>, enabling them to communicate more effectively with potential customers and promote their services without relying solely on intermediaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The training also helped identify key barriers to local tourism development, including limited information about tourism resources, insufficient inventories of tourism sites, gaps in technical and digital skills, and limited access to successful regional tourism practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Based on the training and individual feedback from tourism expert <strong>Anton Hodelka<\/strong>, participants refined their sustainable tourism development plans and identified practical actions that can be implemented in their districts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The training demonstrated that combining <strong>sustainable tourism practices, digital skills and stronger local planning<\/strong> can help tourism businesses become more competitive while generating greater economic benefits for local communities and protecting Kyrgyzstan\u2019s natural and cultural assets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-9-16 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"EGED-\u041a\u044b\u0440\u0433\u044b\u0437\u0441\u0442\u0430\u043d: \u0423\u0441\u0442\u043e\u0439\u0447\u0438\u0432\u043e\u0435 \u0440\u0430\u0437\u0432\u0438\u0442\u0438\u0435 \u0442\u0443\u0440\u0438\u0437\u043c\u0430 \u2013 \u0437\u0430\u043b\u043e\u0433 \u044d\u0444\u0444\u0435\u043a\u0442\u0438\u0432\u043d\u043e\u0433\u043e \u0443\u043f\u0440\u0430\u0432\u043b\u0435\u043d\u0438\u044f \u0438 \u041c\u042d\u0420\" width=\"563\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VMrtGiOFoBs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On 25 June 2024, representatives of guesthouses, yurt camps, tourism destinations, local governments, district administrations and NGOs gathered in Osh for a practical training on sustainable regional tourism. The training was organized by the Development Policy Institute (DPI) under the Effective Governance for Economic Development (EGED) Programme, funded by the UK Government and implemented in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4062,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-media-kyrgyzstan"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eged-ca.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eged-ca.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eged-ca.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eged-ca.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eged-ca.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4064"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eged-ca.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4064\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4065,"href":"https:\/\/eged-ca.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4064\/revisions\/4065"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eged-ca.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eged-ca.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eged-ca.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eged-ca.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}