Ecology ministry offers Charyn national park development concept
There are four tourist routes within the park, including Charyn Canyon, the Valley of Castles, the Kurgan burials, and the Temirlik Small Canyon.
According to Yerlan Nysanbayev, Vice Minister of Ecology, Geology and National Resources, last year saw 20,640 tourists visit the park which enabled it to earn 16 million 700 thousand tenge.
He also pointed out the importance to develop the park's infrastructure, including installment of parking spaces, observation platforms, gazebos, benches, WCs, informative signs, information stands. He went on to say that the park lacks investments as well as financial mechanisms to attract investments to promote ecotourism.
He added that the Ministry of Culture and Sport, KazakhTourism Company have turned to the international experiences of the USA, Andorra, and Europe. In particular, the US legislative framework on ecotourism development, approaches and mechanisms have been surveyed. Conceptual approaches have been worked out to develop ecotourism within the park.
Creation of two modern visit-centers, development of the park’s four routes, creation of ethnic villages, installment of three observation platforms, development of glamping, camping and caravanning, catering facilities and souvenir shops are planned as part of ecotourism development.
According to the Ministry, the indicative budget for development of the national park is 3.7 billion tenge.