In the mountain villages of Kyrgyzstan, herding has long been the only source of steady income, but a network of local guides and homestays is opening a new path. Community-based tourism (CBT) in Kyrgyzstan now spans 17 member communities across the country, turning trekking routes through some of Central Asia’s highest terrain into a shared source of household income, rather than a resource controlled by a handful of large operators.

The stakes behind that shift are significant. Kyrgyzstan’s national poverty rate stood at 25.7% in 2024, a decrease of 4.1 percentage points from the year before, yet roughly 1.87 million people remained in poverty, and nearly 62% of them lived in rural areas, according to the National Statistical Committee. For herding families in the mountain regions, where livestock has historically been the only dependable income, that concentration of poverty in the countryside is exactly the gap community-based tourism sets out to close, turning trekking routes and spare rooms into a second household income tied to the same land families already depend on.

From One Village to a National Network

The first community-based tourism group formed in the village of Kochkor in May 2000, with support from Helvetas, the Swiss Association for International Cooperation. The groups formalized the network on Jan. 3, 2003, as the Kyrgyz Community Based Tourism Association. Branded internationally as Hospitality Kyrgyzstan and headquartered in Bishkek, the association now unites 17 destination communities spread across the country’s mountain regions, each operating with substantial local autonomy under a shared set of standards.

That growth has translated into measurable gains for member households. A 2009 study by Watanabe and colleagues found that CBT groups had generated 412 jobs by 2008, a meaningful supplement for families who previously relied on herding alone.

How the Model Spreads the Income Around

The structure behind community-based tourism in Kyrgyzstan works to keep income from concentrating with a small number of well-placed operators. Local residents rather than outside investors own and staff the homestays. Member communities book guides, drivers and craftspeople from the same villages alongside them. Member communities coordinate pricing and rotate bookings so that demand spreads across participating households instead of funneling toward the same handful of families. In the Chon-Kemin valley, the Shumkor Association applies a similar community-run model to visitor stays. The Baibosun Community-Managed Micro Reserve in Ton district takes a related approach, pairing tourism income with conservation work; the Ilbirs and Camp Alatoo foundations support both efforts.

Riding a National Tourism Boom

The growth of community-based tourism in Kyrgyzstan is unfolding alongside a broader surge in visitors to the country. Roughly 10 million tourists visited Kyrgyzstan in 2025, contributing more than $1 billion to the economy, and the State Agency for Tourism Development is forecasting close to 12 million arrivals in 2026, up from an annual flow of just 2 million to 3 million visitors before 2020. Tourism now accounts for more than 5% of gross domestic product, with the National Statistical Committee estimating the sector’s direct value added at 3.8% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2024, and the government has set a target of raising that share to 7.5%.

What Still Stands in the Way

That national growth cuts both ways for the community-based model. Rising visitor numbers mean more potential income for member villages, but they also raise the risk that demand concentrates in a few already well-known destinations rather than spreading to newer or more remote member communities still building a reputation. Keeping bookings distributed across the network, rather than letting a handful of standout villages absorb most of the growth, is likely to determine how much of Kyrgyzstan’s tourism boom actually reaches the herding families the model aims to support. Even so, the trajectory of the past two decades is difficult to dismiss. What began as a single homestay initiative in one mountain village has grown into a nationwide network that gives rural families a second livelihood tied directly to Kyrgyzstan’s landscape, without requiring them to leave it behind.

– Saakshi Bhat

Saakshi is based in San Marcos, CA, USA and focuses on Business and Global Health for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Wikimedia