Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan – Ski season in Jyrgalan will start with a Tourism Fest on November 21-22 at the free ride ski base near Karakol. The Tourism Fest will bring together tour agencies, sports associations, and young professional travel bloggers and photographers from Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia and the United States to experience all the destination has to offer for the upcoming winter season, and to promote the venue to foreign and domestic extreme skiers. The event is being held in cooperation with the USAID Business Growth Initiative (BGI).

Russian travel journalist and blogger Svetlana Khlebnikova will hold several seminars for young Kyrgyz journalists and extreme sports advocates on travel blogging for extreme journalism. She will also conduct training for managers of destinations, and sports associations on ways to utilize social media tools effectively to promote sports tourism destinations. 

The Tourism Fest will provide a way to engage the local community – youth and women, in particular – in developing community-based tourism. To demonstrate how tourism development can create rewarding business opportunities for nearby communities, BGI will offer classes prior to the event on food service and handicraft production for local residents to provide refreshments and souvenirs for participants of the Fest.

“We want to promote the development of tourism in the area. We believe that working together, we can improve socio-economic conditions in Jyrgalan and create a positive image of this destination not only in Kyrgyzstan but also in the world,” said Emil Ibakov, one of the organizers of the festival.

Jyrgalan is one of four local communities in Kyrgyzstan participating in the USAID Business Growth Initiative destination development program, which boosts local economies by improving and promoting tourist attractions and services.

The USAID Business Growth Initiative is a four-year, multi-faceted project that builds and strengthens the competitiveness of Kyrgyz firms and value chains to promote business growth, job creation, and economic development.

The festival will take place at 3 Asanbaev st., Jyrgalan village, Aksuu district, Issyk-Kul oblast. Contact phone 0557 20 77 77 / 0551 91 69 24;