Central Asian destinations are eyeing prime South-east Asian markets as part of a strategy to lure more tourists to its emerging countries.
Igor Nabatnikov, incoming department manager at DN Tours based in Turkmenistan, said he is seeing an increase in visitors from Japan and China seeking a combined tour with Uzbekistan.
He added that direct flights from South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand are helping to lure visitors from those destinations.
Nabatnikov believes that future direct flights from Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan will help lure more visitors wanting to embark on multi-country trips.
“South-east Asia has a lot of potential, so we are trying hard to market our destination there,” he said. “We have beautiful landscapes, culture, food and hospitality, and we are relatively undiscovered.”
Mari Zaridze, head of sales, Georgian Holidays, said since Georgia signed a strategic partnership with China, more Chinese have been visiting. A strong presence of Singaporeans is also noted.
“South-east Asia is new for Georgia. We want to market to the Philippines because Filipinos can get an e-visa, as well as Malaysia as Malaysians can enter without a visa,” she said, adding that the majority of bookings are for combination tours with neighbouring countries.
Aiperi Narbaeva, tour manager at Aksai Travel, said Kyrgyzstan is keen to court Malaysia and Singapore. “We’re starting to see more requests from these countries,” she noted, stating that the majority of bookings are from travellers wanting to explore “undiscovered” destinations.
