Discovering Central Asia: The prospects for tourism development along the paths of the Great Silk Road

The article considers the prospects of tourism development in five countries of Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. The author analyzes cultural, social and economic aspects of the tourism industry in the region. The main directions of activity of international organizations in the framework of tourism promotion programs are given. Central Asia has a huge potential for the tourism development. The study of the current state of tourism in Central Asia is becoming increasingly important. Tourism resources have every chance to become part of the national wealth of the countries of this region. In the group of factors determining socio-economic development of the countries in the region are natural resources, the level of production and investment, social infrastructure, management quality, international competitiveness, etc. The need for the regional development management system is conditioned by regionalization processes inherent to the current economic situation, oriented to ensuring positive national economic dynamics and maximum using the region’s potential. The studying problem of regional development makes it possible to justify, as one of the directions of its solution, the use of cluster technologies oriented to those branches of the economy that can become a vector of regional development. According to experts, the tourism industry is one of the most profitable sectors of the economy of the region. This industry covers numerous sectors of the economy and various links between them. The main tourist routes in the present time, covering many objects of the Great Silk Road, do not offer a more detailed study of the local historical, architectural and archaeological heritage. The lack of infrastructure facilities is the reason for this. This fact forces us to search solutions, which will provide a comfortable environment for both tourists and researchers. At present, the Central Asian countries occupy a very modest place in the world market of tourist services. According to many experts, the demand for sanatorium, tourist and excursion services has decreased due to the transition period, and the existing network of tourist institutions, boarding houses, rest homes needs reconstruction. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, tourism in the Central Asian republics began to develop independently, without common approaches and concepts. In many respects this is determined by the fact that the new states have chosen their own models of socio-economic development, different from each other. The different level of political freedoms, economic development features determine the current state of the tourism industry in various countries of Central Asia. The perspective of tourism development in this region is quite difficult, but an interesting task, necessary for familiarizing humanity with the most interesting culture of peoples inhabiting Central Asia and developing the economies of countries.