Local Tourists Desert Lakeside Resorts

Alina Kenjeeva reports from Lake Issykkul, which this year is seeing far fewer tourists than usual from the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek.

Thursday, 2 July, 2009

IWPR

Institute for War & Peace Reporting

Local Tourists Desert Lakeside Resorts

Alina Kenjeeva reports from Lake Issykkul, which this year is seeing far fewer tourists than usual from the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek.

Some blame the July 23 presidential election, which falls right in the middle of the holiday season. Others say people are staying away because they feel financially insecure as Kyrgyzstan suffers the consequences of a global downturn.

Others again say prices at lakeside resorts have rocketed to unreasonable far too high so Bishkek residents are holidaying closer to home, in their own allotments and dachas.

Tourists from other former Soviet states like Kazakstan and Russia, however, are still coming to the lake because for them, it is still affordable when compared with other options.

Locations Russia, North Ossetia, Kyrgyzstan

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