About CBT in CA initiative:

• Brief background information on CBT initiative in Central Asia.
Central Asia countries have a great potential for sustainable tourism development, also eight year experience of CBT initiative development show potential and reality of involvement of rural population in the tourism sphere with vital control on nature resources and additional income generation. CBT development in neighbouring countries such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan and establishing join Interregional CBT in Kyrgyzstan highly contributes to economic, social and environmental development and participation in decision-making and generate direct and indirect economic, social and environmental benefits for the local communities in neighbouring Central Asia countries. It’s time to share successful experience of CBT in Kyrgyzstan with other countries and the same times build stronger capacity of the interregional CBT in Kyrgyzstan. In order to advertise, publicise and expand their activities and facilities, it was necessary to link the tourism providers in rural and remote Central Asia countries to external niche markets. The collaboration between CBT-organizations all overall neighbouring countries is essential in selling CBT  abroad and making CBT services available to package holidaymakers and individual tourists in the West. The interregional CBT for rural tourism providers should guarantee the promotion and protection of rights and be a platform for joint lobbying for a conducive legal and economic framework for rural community representation and have possibility to work on the problem of boarder passing through Great Silk Road. In a political surrounding in which authoritarian tendencies threaten fledgling democratic development, professional associations having developed from a grass-bottom level are a guarantor to strengthen political and economic participation of rural citizenry in decision making procedures on countries but also interregional level. In 2007 for all this reasons there was started Central Asia CBT-development project financed by OSCE and implemented by Kyrgyz Community Based Tourism Association “Hospitality Kyrgyzstan”

• The current status of the CA CBT initiative
 
According to the planned project KCBTA “Hospitality Kyrgyzstan” provided field study in order to identify potential partners and members of the forthcoming network. Further, there were conducted General Assembly and study tour with participation of the potential partners from Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.
One of the decisions made during the General Assembly was to bring efforts for the sake of the joint marketing of the Central Asian region. KCBTA with financial support of the OSCE is working on creating web-site for Central Asia CBT-development www.welcometocentralasia.com in order to promote CBT-tours and products