Copyright by Joseph Boots Allen 2006
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Copyright by Joseph Boots Allen 2006 The Dissertation Committee for Joseph Boots Allen certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: What About the Locals?: The Impact of St ate Tourism Policy and Transnational Participation on Two Central Asian Mountain Communities Committee: Cynthia J. Buckley, Supervisor Bryan R. Roberts ____________________________________ Mounira M. Charrad ____________________________________ Art hur Sakamoto ____________________________________ Kamran Asdar Ali What About the Locals?: The Impact of State Tourism Policy and Transnational Participation on Two Central Asian Mountain Communities by Joseph Boots Al len, B.A., M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Texas at Austin in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin May 2006 Dedication I dedicate this dissertation to my family and friends for their years of unquestionable support and faith. Acknowledgements First and foremost, I must thank the people of the Kazakh Altai and Issyk -Kul who assisted me with this project. These individuals – the guides, the porters, the guesthouse operators, and the spirited owners of local tourism firms were more than generous with their time and information. From them I learned of their deep respec t and love for the places they call home. From them I gained a greater understanding of my own community, high in the mountains of Wyoming. Although we live several thousand miles from each other, we are in many ways experiencing the same problems that come from living in mountain settings. As Yevgeny Yevetchenko told me during one of our many discussions, “people who live in mountains all over the world tend to have the same problems.” I also wish to thank the officials from the various state and devel opment agencies who were also generous with their time and information regarding tourism development in the two venues I studied. I was very meticulous when selecting my committee for this dissertation. By the end of the process, I realized that my selec tion of these individuals – Cynthia Buckley, Bryan Roberts, Maya Charrad, Arthur Sakamoto, and Kamran Ali – was perhaps the best move that I had made. Throughout the data collection, the write -up, and the defense, I received unending feedback and encourag ement. All provided suggestions that lent to a v body of work that I am immensely proud of. Words cannot express the gratitude I feel towards these individuals. My work in the field could not have been possible without the assistance provided by Dynafi t Life -Link. Their sponsorship of this project allowed me to conduct my research in sites that would have been unattainable had I only used conventional methods of travel. Lastly, I would like to thank my family and friends in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and Austin, Texas, who provided as much encouragement any during my six years as a grad uate student. To my mother, my brother, my sister -in -law, Olivia, Jessica, Susan, Tressa, Derek, Chris, Kory, Krista, Melissa, Bob, Jack, and Jason, you should all know that this dissertation could not have been completed without you behind me. vi What About the Locals?: The Impact of State Tourism Policy and Transnational Participation on Two Central Asian Mountain Communities Publication No. __________ Joseph Boots Allen, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2006 Supervisor: Cynthia J. Buckley The prospect of rural development is emerging as an important topic among development specialists. In their quest to focus more atten tion in this arena, the State, transnational investors, and international organizations are entering into complex partnerships to assist rural communities in attaining higher levels of development. Primary goals include bettering general infrastructure an d creating employment and entrepreneurial opportunities for local communities. Many times, however, the geographic and economic context of regions where development projects are aimed, and vii the participation of local stakeholders, is not properly taken into consideration. As a result, development goals prove difficult to attain. Using qualitative data over a nine month period of field research, I examine the impact of state tourism development policy and transnational participation on two rural regions in Central Asia. The respective governments have differing approaches to the development of the tourism sector based primarily on their geographic and economic contexts. While one employs a broad policy seeking sectoral development part -and- parcel of the strong general economy and without soliciting outside participation, the other, because of limited self -capacity, employees a progressive policy that includes transnational investors and development agencies as key partners. The findings suggest that a developing country in a strong economic and geographic position is better able to foster an additive industry like tourism and do so in a way that is equitable for local stakeholders. Local stakeholders take advantage of benefits the greater economy provides, despite the broad state policy and lack of outside participation. A country in a weaker economic and geographic position, regardless of comparative advantages in the industry and progressive policies that include outside participation, develops the industry in a way that is less equitable for local stakeholders because of the weak general economy, because outside participation creates foreign competition, and because the targeted clientele drawn is not likely to directly seek out the services locals off er. I contribute to the understanding of local development by demonstrating the impact of geographic and economic contexts and colonial legacy on development processes, the importance of local stakeholders in policy development and implementation, and the equity of bottom-up development planning. viii Table of Contents Chapter One - Introduction 1 A Tri -Level Approach for Examining Development and Local Communities 10 A Rationalization of Qualitative Methods for this Study 13 The Structure of this Dissertation 14 Chapter Two – A Review of Tourism Research and Tourism Development Policy 17 An Overview of Tourism as a Development Tool 19 Tourism and Local Development 31 International Development Agencies and Tourism Promotion 37 Contemporary Tourism in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan 41 A Concluding Review 45 Chapter Three – Soviet and Post -Soviet Tourism in a Historica l Context 46 Tourism and State Involvement during the Soviet Period 46 Historical Overview of Post -Soviet Tourism: Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan 53 Concluding Remarks: The Legacy of Soviet Era Tourism Development and Dece ntralization 56 Chapter Four – Data and Methods 59 Preparatory Work 61 Data Collection 63 Interviews 66 Focus Groups 75 Observations 78 Archival Research 79 Data Organization 79 ix Note from the Field: Challenges and the Research Experience 81 Chapter Five – Tourism, Development, and the Role of the State 85 Kazakhstan 87 State Involvement: Vague Policies and Burdensome Barriers 90 International Involvement: Development Agencies and Sustainable Tourism Promotion 98 Kyrgyzstan 101 State Involvement: Pr omoting International Participation 102 Implications: State Capacity and the Development of the Tourism Sector 119 Chapter Six – The Kazakh Altai: A Tale of One City and Three Villages 128 Local Firms 133 In ternational Organizations and CBT Development 144 Local Communities 146 Rakhmanov Springs 147 Kara -Aimag 153 Urunkhayka and Lake Markakol 156 Conclusions: Implications for Lo cal Firms and Local Communities 160 Chapter Seven – Lake Issyk -Kul: Different Shores, Different Development 164 The North Shore 168 The South Shore 177 Local Firms 180 Foreign Owned Firms 185 Local Employees 189 Guesthouse Operators 193 x Discussion and Conclusions: One Policy, Different Outcomes 196 Chapter Eight – Weathering Difficulties and Difficult Times 201 Alternative Financing in Issyk-Kul 204 The Springs Corp: Funding Resort Growth through Alternative Methods 217 Altai Adventures: Coping with the Off -Season 220 Discussion and Conclusions 223 Chapter Nine – The Political Ecology of Mountain Tourism and the Environment 227 Travel Barriers: To Remove or not to Remove? 233 State Policy, Foreign Investment and Environmental Concerns 240 The State, Dev elopment Agencies, and Environmental Concerns 246 Discussion and Conclusions 251 Chapter Ten – Conclusions 255 Kyrgyzstan and Lake Issyk -Kul: Slow Growth in a Struggling Economy 259 Kazakhstan and the Altai: Growth Despite Barriers 263 Contribution to Development Studies 267 Directions for Future Research and Scholarship 266 Appendix 274 References 284 Vita 297 xi Chapter One Introduction Increasingly, state, transnational investors, and international organizations are focusing development programs away from traditional urban targets and more towards rural regions with high potential in specific industries. These public -private partnerships have several motives for pursuing development goals in rural settings. Such locales are typically endowed with exploitable resources that can spur on regional development. Rural regions are also typ ically compatible to sustainable forms of low-impact development, such as agriculture and the harvesting of perennial goods. In addition, there is a belief that rural development programs can be more effective than those programs aimed at urban centers be cause of the intimate link to aspects of community. Individual