Ethnic Equality, National Identity and Selective Cultural Representation in Tourism Promotion: Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia

Abstract

This paper considers ethnic equality and stakeholder involvement in relation to tourism as a tool to build national identity in post-Soviet, post-communist Central Asia. Both issues are integral to the development of sustainable tourism. The discussion reviews national identity issues and inter-ethnic challenges facing post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan, and focuses on the responses of Kyrgyz tour operators to the emphasis of tourism promotion on ethnic Kyrgyz cultural heritage, excluding other ethnic groups and heritage. Despite a high degree of tour operator freedom from the State, a surprising degree of operator support for this promotional bias is noted, in contrast to the reported ethnic conflict over affirmative discrimination towards the ethnic Kyrgyz population.