Yurts are traditional dwellings throughout Central Asia (photo: KMF)

Tourism is a relatively recent phenomenon in rural Kazakhstan, but there is growing interest in traditional Kazakh nomadic culture among foreign tourists, and this could help alleviate problems of rural unemployment and poverty.

The UNESCO partner in Kazakhstan is the Kazakh Mountaineering Foundation, a national NGO based in the country’s former capital, Almaty, which is carrying out a survey of the cultural and natural resources of the Tien Shen Mountain range, in order to identify this region’s potential for tourism development. Tourism-resource maps are being produced, as is a strategy for the development of the area for tourism, stressing the protection of biodiversity and the involvement of local communities. Training courses are being given to train members of such communities as tour guides, and a Web site on eco-tourism in Kazakhstan set up, promoting the region to foreign and national visitors.

Other activities promoted by the project include handicraft sales, rural homestays in yurtas, traditional Central Asian nomadic felt dwellings, and trekking and mountain hiking. Co-operation is being developed with Kyrgyz partners to enhance cross-border tourism, the Tien Shen Mountains also stretching into neighbouring Kyrgyzstan.

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