Helsinki, 28 January, 2022 – The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Kyrgyzstan organized a study tour to Finland for local Kyrgyz entrepreneurs from the tourism sector. During a three-day programme, the participants learned about theoretical and practical aspects of sustainable tourism at the Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences and visited Finnish tourism companies that have implemented and adopted the sustainable tourism practices. The training was organised by the UNDP Aid for Trade project that supports Central Asian countries in promoting inclusive and sustainable growth. The project is funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland.

Adventure tourism is one of the sectors selected by the Aid for Trade project as it is an important source for economic growth and job creation in Kyrgyzstan. There are many activities involved in the value chain, starting from welcoming tourists at the airport, to accommodation in yurts (nomadic felt houses), to catering and leisure activities. As such activities entail employing people and the use of natural resources, culture and heritage, sustainability needs to be at the heart of tourism. 

Thus, sustainable tourism is often defined as tourism that takes care of travellers, local people, cultural heritage, and the environment.

"It was a great pleasure for me to conduct the training for Kyrgyz people, I find such cooperation very fruitful when knowledge and experience can be shared between the participants and the trainer. The group from Kyrgyzstan learned about inspiring and innovative Finnish tourism services through theory and practice. This gave them the opportunity to modify the ideas and examples they learned in their own cultural and natural environment. As a lecturer, I heard great examples of how participants immediately put the theories into practice in local destinations", said Mia Tarhanen, Senior Lecturer at Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences.

Travelling promotes communication between people, and because sustainable tourism has an educational element, it can stimulate mutual understanding between the peoples of the world. With increasing number of interesting destinations, travel companies and destinations must be competitive. For example, Susa Huotari, a representative of the Finnish company Oy Kon-Tiki Tours Ltd, said that sustainable tourism provides a strong competitive advantage when establishing new or renovating old tourism products.

"The Western world is serious about sustainable tourism - they will demand it anyway. For example, Indonesia is drowning in plastic bottles and all tourists from the West are horrified that they are polluting the environment - and for nothing. Only laziness prevents recycling and carelessness, and the government has not set up any system to avoid pollution. The more tourist money Kyrgyzstan receives, the more you can develop the whole chain to be responsible and sustainable, from the passenger arriving at the airport to their departure and scattering nice words about your beautifully maintained country,” said Susa Huotari. After her trip to Kyrgyzstan in May 2021 (also organized by the Aid for Trade project), Susa Huotari’s company began organising and selling tours to Kyrgyzstan.

All representatives of the Kyrgyz delegation showed great interest in sustainable tourism and decided to work more united towards this direction. A very interesting factor in sustainable tourism is simplicity. The simpler the tour, the eco-friendlier it is.

"I really enjoyed the training in Finland and really liked the 'simple' approach. Tour companies often complicate tours, but I liked the case where taking people out to the forest and lying down is also considered tourism. It turns out that sustainable tours can just revolve around the ideas of happiness, wellness, and connection with nature. I think we also need to promote these tour products in our country and of course take care of nature, for example, not to print tickets unnecessarily, provide water not in plastic bottles, etc.," stated Aisha Mambetalieva, director of Kyrgyz Tourism LLC.

This training took place within the framework of the Aid For Trade Central Asia project, supported by the Government of Finland.

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