Third International Conference on Tourism & Leisure Studies

Abstract

This paper argues that successful maintenance and expansion of tourism in Kyrgyzstan draws heavily on previous pilgrimage networks and legends that elevate the value of the natural environment. This paper will address three case studies in the provinces of Issyk Kul (Cholpon Ata) and Jalalabad (Jalalabad city and Arslanbob Ata). During the Soviet period these sites received designations as vacation destinations complete with the construction of resort spas, hotels, and more modest camps. Today people maintain many of these Soviet facilities, in addition to managing pilgrim retreats and facilitating foreign adventure and ecotourism. This paper seeks to understand how locals view their relationship to the land and water resources that make these sites appealing to contemporary visitors. How have past representations of the divine increased motivations for sustainability and conservation? Have these relationships changed over time, during and since the Soviet period? To explore these questions, this paper considers legends, oral histories, forestry and hydrology reports, newspaper articles, and Soviet administrative records including photographs. By incorporating diverse sources and through taking an interdisciplinary approach, this paper offers an analysis of the ways that the people have viewed their environment as a site of tourism. This paper intersects with the scholarship on religion and tourism, environmental history, and the history of Soviet and post-Soviet Central Asia.