DUSHANBE, August 19, 2010, Asia-Plus — Recent tragedy involving the death of Ukrainian climber Oleg Monsar shows that there are still deficiencies in organization of mountain tourism in Tajikistan, Qirghizbek Qonunov, the head of the Pamirs Eco-Cultural Tourism Association (PECTA), said in an interview with Asia-Plus.
“It is very important that all tourist companies dealing with mountain tourism must be responsible for safety of their clients,” said Qonunov, “It is not allowed sending people to mountains without certain guarantees. If it is profitable business and if you do this business, you must be responsible for safety of your clients. We ought to think over an appropriate mechanism to ensure safety of mountain tourists because such accidents undermines the image of the tourism sector and the country as a whole.”
According to him, each of tour operators will have its reserve emergency relief fund and in the event that danger threatens their clients’ life, they will be able to provide an efficient assistance to them. “Of course, not all tour operators may have necessary funds to set up the emergency relief fund, and therefore, we could set up a common emergency relief fund, for example, within the framework of one association,” the PECTA head noted.
The other option could be concluding contracts with insurance companies. “What if we introduce compulsory insurance for mountain tourists? All interested sides – ministries, tour operators, air carriers and insurance companies — should gather to think over all aspects,” said Qonunov, “We need the single organization that would be responsible for safety of tourists.”
It is also necessary to create a hotline service and the single database that could be used by all structures, involved in ensuring tourists’ safety, he added.
According to Qonunov, some efforts have already been undertaken along this line. “A separate structure – tourism council – is being established with support from tourism associations, relevant ministries and the committee for youth, sports and tourism affairs. “This council could become the key body to regulate the tourist safety issues. Tour operators have certain resources but they do not have air transport, helicopters for example. Only the Ministry of Defense has them, however, the ministry does not provide for expenses on carrying out relief and rescue operations for tourists,” said the PECTA top manager. “The single body could conclude multilateral agreement on rendering services for a fee.”
The Committee for Youth, Sports and Tourism is currently trying to solve this issue; they are considering the possibility of leasing air transport.
