Sustainable Tourism in Kyrgyzstan: Key Findings of the PERETO Project

July 29, 2024

In Bishkek, the project "Promoting Energy and Resource Efficiency in the Tourism Sector of Kyrgyzstan" held its final forum, “Sustainable Tourism in Kyrgyzstan: key findings of the PERETO project.”

The forum’s goal was to summarize the four years of work of the PERETO project, discuss the achieved results, and review future strategies for energy and resource efficiency in Kyrgyzstan's tourism sector.

More than 150 people representing the government, business, and academic sectors, as well as international organizations, participated in the event.

“With the support of the European Union, the PERETO project has not only promoted innovative energy and resource-saving solutions and sustainable consumption and production methods for tourism enterprises. It has also created a favorable policy environment to support 'green' practices in Kyrgyzstan’s tourism sector. Over the 4.5 years of implementation, the project has reached an impressive number of people,” noted Marylin Josephson, Head of the European Union Delegation to the Kyrgyz Republic, at the final forum of the PERETO project.

Member of the parliament of the Kyrgyz Republic Dinara Ashimova emphasized that a quality tourism development program in Kyrgyzstan will contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. She noted that all achievements of the PERETO project need to be implemented in government decisions, especially in-laws. According to her, it is important to focus future efforts on the joint work of civil society, the government, and the Jogorku Kenesh (Kyrgyz parliament) to realize these initiatives successfully.

Strategic partners and project beneficiaries conducted panel sessions at the forum on tourism reform policies and the best energy and resource efficiency practices implemented in the private sector.

“The PERETO project has become one of the most successful European Union projects in Kyrgyzstan, allowing the country’s tourism sector to reach a new and higher level of sustainable development. Over four years of activity, the project has assisted more than 2,700 small and medium-sized enterprises across the country, with about 100 of them implementing more than 500 measures to reduce energy and resource consumption,” emphasized Maksat Damir uulu, the program manager of the PERETO project.

Nurzat Abdyrasulova, President of the Unison Group, highlighted the important role of the PERETO project in developing sustainable practices in the tourism sector. “The PERETO project, a successful comprehensive project, aimed at implementing sustainable tourism development principles in Kyrgyzstan. Creating a favorable ecosystem in tourism, aimed at developing and implementing green innovations through creating a network of consultants, introducing voluntary environmental certification, developing green banking products, integrating the basics of the circular economy into university programs, and mobilizing the private sector to implement green technologies seemed like ambitious goals at the beginning of the project. However, thanks to the coordinated work of the partners and the team, we are concluding the PERETO project with significant achievements,” said Nurzat Abdyrasulova.

After the forum, an award ceremony for eco-certificates was held. In 2023, PERETO launched voluntary environmental certification ECO KG among HoReCa enterprises in Kyrgyzstan. The presence of an eco-certificate informs customers about the implementation of green technologies and sustainable development methods in cafes, hotels, and restaurants. Eco-certification contributes to additional demand for eco-hotels and eco-cafes, mitigating the impact of the business sector on the environment.

PERETO energy and resource efficiency certified consultants conducted eco-audits in 88 hotels, cafes, and restaurants across Kyrgyzstan. Enterprises that successfully passed the audit were awarded eco-certificates and quality marks in the categories of “Bronze” (49 tourism enterprises), “Silver” (37 enterprises), “Gold” (18 enterprises), and “Platinum” (2 enterprises). Certificates of compliance with the environmental standard were included in the unified registry of certified objects of the Green Alliance of Kyrgyzstan.

PERETO is developing the “ECO KG” mobile application, which will allow enterprises to self-assess their environmental performance and apply for an eco-audit from anywhere in Kyrgyzstan.

PERETO Project Results in Numbers (March 2020 – July 2024)

10 consulting services operate throughout Kyrgyzstan
About 800 private entrepreneurs participated in PERETO training
About 2800 small and medium-sized tourism enterprises received information on sustainable production and consumption measures, energy and resource efficiency
50 SMEs in HoReCa underwent an energy audit and received energy-saving calculations, as well as business plans for further development
4 green products were developed in partnership with financial institutions
PERETO collaborates with and supports 7 universities to integrate energy and resource efficiency and sustainable production and consumption principles into tourism education programs

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