Improving education, skills and employment in tourism: Almaty-Bishkek Economic Corridor

This report measures the skills gap among tourism industry workers and the resulting opportunity costs along the Almaty-Bishkek Economic Corridor (ABEC) in Central Asia. The ABEC is the pilot economic corridor under the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Program, a partnership of 11 member countries and development partners working together to promote development through cooperation, leading to accelerated economic growth and poverty reduction. The motivation for ABEC is that Almaty (Kazakhstan) and Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) can achieve far more together than either can achieve alone. The historic Silk Route, mountain ranges, and Lake Issyk-Kul represent a wealth of culture and nature resulting in a high potential for tourism.

The skills gap analysis identifies an annual lack of about 8,500 trained professionals in the tourism industry along the region which is causing opportunity costs of more than $30 million per year. To address this binding constraint for tourism development in ABEC, the authors suggest a long-term twinning-project with an internationally renowned tourism education center of excellence. Reference is made in this report to the European Region Tyrol, South Tyrol, and Trentino - an alpine tourist region spanning across Austria and Italy. The essence of this approach is to ensure solid practical skilling in basic tourism occupations in combination with higher level specializations such as eco-, adventure, or nomadic tourism.

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