Kyrgyz-Kazak Tourism Row

The Kyrgyz authorities have stepped forward to defend the republic’s ailing tourist industry by placing the blame for the drop in visitor numbers on Kazakstan’s media.

A series of articles - alleging shoddy service, poor facilities and pressure from corrupt officials at the Issyk-Kul mountain lake resorts area of Kyrgyzstan - have appeared in newspapers in neighbouring Kazakstan, angering Bishkek.

Kyrgyzstan relies on the holiday sector to boost its fragile economy, as summer jobs temporarily slash unemployment levels.

More than 60 per cent of Issyk-Kul holidaymakers are Kazak citizens who cannot afford to join their more affluent countrymen vacationing in Turkey, Cyprus or Thailand.

Now Bishkek fears that these vital visitors will be put off coming to Kyrgyzstan following a series of critical – and often inaccurate – articles in the Kazak press.

The increasing levels of criticism prompted Okmotbek Almakuchukov, head of the state committee for tourism, to hold an urgent press conference where he denied all charges levelled against his country.

His deputy, Batyrkul Baetov, said that the media attacks are primarily caused by fierce competition between Kazak tourist agencies promoting holidays in Kyrgyzstan and Turkey.

“It would appear that the competition has reached such heights that some firms are now using underhand methods to destroy the image of their rival’s destinations,” Baetov told IWPR.

Kyrgyzstan’s first deputy prime minister, Kurmanbek Osmonov, agrees that the motives are commercial rather than political – although he worries that the firms in question are stepping “outside the bounds of decency”.

It’s true that visitor numbers have dropped remarkably over the past two years, but analysts blame this on security worries, following incursions by Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan extremists in the 1999-2000 period.

These worries were exacerbated last year when the Kazak media reported that an armed confrontation was taking place between government and opposition forces in the Aksuu region, which includes Lake Issyk-Kul. But the confrontation had in fact occurred in Aksy, which is in the southern Jalalabad region.

This damaging error prompted Kyrgyz prime minister Nikolai Tanaev to publicly refute the Kazak accusations. “Unfortunately, it common for such attacks on our country to increase as the tourist season begins,” said Tanaev, adding that thousands of Russian visitors had cancelled their planned trips to Issyk-Kul as a result of the articles.

More recently, items in Kazak journals Karavan and Express K criticised levels of service and facilities, as well as casting doubt on the Kyrgyz authorities’ ability to keep tourists safe.

An article published in the Karavan newspaper last month described travelling to Issyk-Kul as “extremely risky” due to the poor state of the roads, and warned potential visitors of the “extortion” they will face en route to their destination.

The paper’s Larisa Uvalieva brushed off complaints from Bishkek, defending the “informative and cautionary” article as being for the benefit of tourists who intend to take their holiday at the resort.

Express K has also criticised the Kyrgyz resorts. Journalist Adilkhan Nusupov said, “It is annoying that no measures are taken to stop the police from asking for bribes – we’re bringing them money, after all.

“Tourists who visit to Kyrgyz resorts have to pay expenses which cannot be justified, as the infrastructure is poor and has not been upgraded since Soviet times.

“In places such as Thailand, Cyprus or Turkey, they charge around eight US dollars for a well-equipped room, carrying your suitcases and even sending your faxes. But a tiny cell-like room in a Kyrgyz resort cost my brother and me 34 dollars – and they charged me an extra dollar when I insisted that they put up curtains.”

But a spokesperson for the Kazak tourist agency Orion told IWPR that the highest-class Kyrgyz hotels do offer a similar standard of service to those in Turkey – but at a lower price.

“All other categories of Kyrgyz resorts are of a much lower standard - ‘zero star’ by western standards – and offer poor service as a result of a third world country mentality. For the moment, visitors just have to resign themselves to this,” he said.

But it’s not just the standard of service that has been criticised by the Kazak papers, which often carry stories of how local boys steal visitors’ property, and tell tales of cunning salespeople who rip off tourists.

While the tourist bosses and politicians complain about the Kazak media’s attitude, many admit that some of the journalists have a point.

Kubatbek Baibolov, a parliamentary deputy and successful businessman, told IWPR, “We have to admit that the present conditions at Issyk-Kul cannot be compared with those at the Turkish resorts.

“We really do charge high prices for bad service, and there is all sorts of extortion as well. But Kyrgyzstan has the cleanest water and air imaginable – very few places can compete with us in that regard.”

Sultan Jumagulov is a BBC stringer in Bishkek. Venera Ibisheva is an independent journalist in Almaty.