The Central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan expects the now firmly established sixth World Nomad Games to inject about $120mn into its economy. That’s according to the head of the State Tourism Agency, Eduard Kubatov, who said at a press conference in Cholpon-Ata during the event.
For the small, landlocked country that has struggled to convert its stunning mountain scenery into a mainstream tourism destination, the projected windfall (and press) should, in theory, help its global appeal and help 2027/2028 bookings.
Connections to Bishkek, the capital, have not been difficult, with airlines including Turkish, Air Arabia and Pegasus now serving the country, which has massively helped with connections from Western countries and high-value tourists, while the country is still very well connected to other former Soviet countries, including Uzbekistan and Russia. From the east, China Southern, Loong Air and T-way Air fly in from nearby eastern Asia.
By staging the games alongside a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit that drew Xi Jinping, Narendra Modi, Masoud Pezeshkian and Vladimir Putin to Bishkek, the government has sought to put Kyrgyzstan on both the diplomatic and travel maps in a single week. Quite clever, really.
The official games ran from August 31 to September 6, with the opening ceremony at the new Bishkek Arena and the main competitions at Cholpon-Ata, a resort town on the shore of Lake Issyk-Kul, and the Kyrchyn Gorge. Yes, we haven’t heard of them before either.
The opening also coincided with Kyrgyzstan’s independence day and the SCO leaders’ summit, giving the event a high-profile audience of heads of state, with their respective countries’ media in attendance, boosting Kyrgyz presence, according to information our editor-at-large gathered while on the ground in the country.
The sixth edition of the event was the largest yet, drawing athletes from about 90 countries, including Western nations, competing across dozens of traditional disciplines, from “kok-boru,” a mounted contest played with a goat carcass, to eagle hunting, horseback wrestling and archery. The Western teams were up there for things like the tug-of-war, something we haven’t done since secondary school.
The United Nations cultural body UNESCO has recognised the games as a model for safeguarding intangible heritage, a designation the government has used to frame the event as cultural diplomacy rather than sport alone.
Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, opening the games, described them as a “prominent fixture on the international sporting and cultural calendar and a showcase of nomadic civilisation,” which is probably the first time a president has said such a phrase.
Accommodation ranges from budget guesthouses to sanatorium resorts, and organisers set up dedicated yurt settlements to absorb overflow demand.
Kubatov said the full economic impact would be assessed only after the event, cautioning that the $120mn is a projection rather than a settled figure. But, according to our own reports, that figure could be significantly higher and the run off into winter could see a steady income of new visitors.
These days, tourism has become one of the faster-growing parts of the Kyrgyz economy, and the government has invested in transport and power infrastructure ahead of the games and the summit, including grid upgrades to support the two events.
Officials hope the exposure will lift arrivals beyond the core Central Asian and regional markets that dominate the country’s visitor mix, drawing higher-spending travellers from further afield.
Well, with all the new visitors this year, it will surely be a memorable event and most probably the guests will have a good thing to say about the country on their return. So a win for the Kyrgyz Republic!
The games will return to a rotating regional host in 2028, after editions in Turkey in 2022 and Kazakhstan in 2024.
Stay tuned for further updates on this event from Sophie Ibbotson, who has been on the ground, for her next debrief at ET Towers!