News

Ecotourism workshop in the Tien Shan mountains

06.02.2015

On 22-23 January 2015, a workshop on "Establishment of a guest house" was held in Kurmety Village, Kazakhstan (in the Raimbek district of the Almaty region, the buffer zone of "Kolsai Kolderi" National Park, situated in the Northern Tien Shan mountains). The workshop was organized in the framework of the project "Biodiversity protection in the transboundary region Northern Tien Shan mountains”, implemented by Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union of Germany (NABU), Avalon Historico-Geographical Society (HGS) and the Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity of Kazakhstan (ACBK) with the financial support of Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany (BMZ).

Aigul Isagulova, a representative of Ecotourism Information Resource Centre of Kazakhstan Tourism Association, led the workshop. More than twenty villagers took part in the event, some of whom hope to start working with tourists this year.

At the workshop, Kurmety villagers familiarized themselves with the concept of ecotourism based on the use of ordinary village houses as the main type of tourist accommodation. They were coached in the basics of opening a guesthouse in the village. Workshop participants also learned about the quality standards for guesthouses, which were established by the Kazakhstan Tourism Association and are now successfully implemented in most of the ecosites in Kazakhstan.

The project team inspected potential guesthouses and evaluated them, assessing what additional equipment or repairs were needed. The project team recommended changes or improvements to the houses to make them more suitable for accommodating tourists.

About 3-4 houses in the village are now ready for receiving their first tourists. Even though this prospective Kazakh ecosite is only in its early stage of development, interested travel companies and tourists are invited to experience the hospitality of the Kurmety villagers and enjoy the natural blessings of this picturesque place in 2015.

By the way, Kurmety is a starting point for many great treks in the Northern Tien Shan, such as one of the most interesting routes to the Lower Kolsai Lake, as well as numerous tours in the Kurmety Valley and the neighbouring Taldy Valley, which include visiting Kurmety lake and climbing up Kyzymshek peak. All these routes will be tested by Avalon in spring 2015 prior to the forthcoming tourist season.

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By Avalon Historico-Geographical Society

Photos: Vitaliy Shuptar