In 2023, Kyrgyzstan received almost 15 million visitors, stated Kyal Kenzhematova, the Deputy Director of the Tourism Department at the Ministry of Culture, Information, and Tourism of Kyrgyzstan, during the conference "Trends and Prospects for the Development of the Tourism and Aviation Industry in Kyrgyzstan," Economist.kg reports.
The speaker explained that the mentioned data is not final, and the official figures will be provided by the relevant department at the end of February. According to her, information about the number of people crossing the border is provided by the Customs Service of Kyrgyzstan, after which the Tourism Department manually counts the number of tourists.
"According to preliminary data, almost 15 million people arrived through airports and all border checkpoints last year. At the moment, we have not finished counting. This is the number of those who crossed the border," clarified Kenzhematova.
She also discussed the criteria used to determine the category of tourists, mentioning the classification of the World Tourism Organization (WTO), which specifies the purposes of the trip.
"The Tourism Department follows this document, as well as an internal document developed jointly with the Border Service, which specifies the purposes of the trip, religious preferences, and other criteria. These criteria are determined through an oral interview by the Border Service," she noted.
In 2022, according to Kyal Kenzhematova, Kyrgyzstan was visited by 14 million people, of which approximately 7.5 million came to the country as tourists.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
February 1, 2024