Close-Surveillance Holidays in Turkmenistan

21-May-07

The authorities have promised to develop tourism in Turkmenistan, but NBCentralAsia observers say the industry will not take off as long as foreign tourists are seen as a potential threat to the state.

On May 13, President Gurbanguly Berdymuhammedov announced that the government is serious about developing tourism by turning the Caspian port of Turkmenbashi into a free economic zone. The president invited local and foreign businessmen to invest in building hotels and entertainment complexes in the zone. Domestic investment in the city’s tourism industry is expected to add up to one billion US dollars.

Turkmenistan receives an estimated 10,000 tourists each year. All prospective visitors are thoroughly checked out by the state tourism committee, and those who want to venture of the capital must have written permission from the authorities and be accompanied by a personal guide who controls their movements.

Tourists are banned from taking pictures of streets and buildings or inviting Turkmen citizens to their hotel rooms.

An American tourist who recently visited the country says Turkmenistan isn’t going to attract more visitors by subjecting them to conditions like this.

“The authorities think every visitor is a potential spy. What kind of tourism is going to develop under conditions like that?” he asked.

Vyacheslav Mamedov, leader of the Civil Democratic Union, an émigré group, argues that tourism is inconceivable without liberal reforms in many areas of life. He says the government would have to put in place a whole set of improvements including relaxing visa regulations and ending surveillance of tourists.

At the moment, only a few entrepreneurs with close ties to the regime are able to set up tourist businesses, according to an NBCentralAsia economic expert based in Turkmenistan. He says a level playing fields should be created to give private tourist firms and operators a chance to thrive.

The director of a local tourism company says the number of firms has plummeted in recent years. Many were forced to shut down by corrupt officials who refused to give them a trading licence, while others succumbed because they did not want to inform the authorities about “suspicious” tourists.

“The directors of some companies suffered the consequences for bringing in foreigners who were the authorities later classified as,” said the director.

An NBCentralAsia observer based in Ashgabat says the security issue is likely to scare off local businessmen from investing significant sums of money, even if the government starts encouraging tourist firms.

“It is unlikely that those who possess capital would want to gain visibility in a sector that is so much under the watchful eye of the security services,” he said.

(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)