Despite the modern oversaturation of the world tourist market, under which conditions clients are being offered a broad spectrum of tourist services, Kyrgyzstan occupies a confident position. National coordinator of the international project of the European Education Fund of the national qualification system of Central Asia, Geisha Ibragimova, told us about, what Republic’s attractiveness consists in.

-What helps Kyrgyzstan to confidently occupy its place on the tourist market?

-Kyrgyzstan succeeded in preserving its ethnoculture in the everyday level, but not only on the level of governmental structures or actions. This is very important. While the tourist market is oversaturated, we present ourselves as a country, where ethnoculture has been preserved not only in everyday life, clothes, traditions, but also in the vital activity of the family.

Exactly in the family there are all levels of relative ties, the format of relations (how to receive guests, what and when to say, how to give presents and many other). It also appears in the language – in proverbs and sayings, legends, stories, phraseological phrases, which carries itself moral values of the nation. The further from the cities, the more obvious the image of a nomad is. From this point of view, the distant regions are more attractive for tourists. For there a man lives in harmony with nature, and that food and those drinks, which a nomad consumes in everyday life, acquire special value for foreigners and townspeople.

-But tourists are attracted not only by ethnoculture?

-Absolutely. In my opinion, attractiveness also consists in the primeval beauty of different parts of the country. Virgin forests, splendid ravines, waterfalls and rivers – all these constitute a foundation for successful development of ecological, extreme and mountain tourism. Besides that the Kyrgyz Nation ensures the energy of its life thanks to its tolerant relation towards all religious confessions. Therefore, no world religion could conquer Kyrgyzstan. Tengrianity is not a religion, but rather a world-view, intrinsic to Kyrgyz people. Notably, a person tries to act according to a certain picture of the world in different life situations. World-view is being formulated thanks to the language, traditions, life experience. And all that is being passed on from generation to generation. Therefore, any person, regardless of his religious convictions, coming to Kyrgyzstan, is going to receive hospitable treatment here.