On April 27 and 28, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) hosted a two-day forum to introduce Kyrgyzstan’s tourism destinations and new tourism products to tour operators from Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

The forum “Discover Kyrgyzstan: Trends, Opportunities, and Innovations” brought together over 200 representatives of tour operators and tourism organizations from across the country to help them connect with their counterparts in Central Asia.

The forum featured presentations and demonstrations of new tour products highlighting Kyrgyzstan’s nomadic culture – Salbuurun, Kyrgyz cuisine and handicrafts – as well as more than 50 new mountain trails for trekking, biking, and horseback riding covering over 2,000 kilometers developed with USAID’s support. Guests had a chance to taste Kyrgyzstan’s culinary offerings including beshbarmak, plov, ashlan-fu, and boorsok to demonstrate the multi-cultural experience of travel in Kyrgyzstan. The event will also feature a yurt village where Kyrgyz destinations will demonstrate samples of their tourism offerings.

The second day was devoted to master classes and networking sessions. International tourism experts discussed social media marketing, customer service delivery, and promotion of Kyrgyzstan’s unique tourism offerings in international markets. During networking sessions, Central Asian guests met with local tourism businesses and organizations to form stronger business partnerships for development of joint tour packages covering multi-country Central Asian tours.

The event took place at the Hyatt Regency Bishkek.

The forum was organized as part of USAID’s Business Growth Initiative, a $20 million project that builds and strengthens the competitiveness of Kyrgyz economic sectors including tourism, apparel manufacturing and construction materials.