Client

Committee for Tourism Development

Location

Sughd Region

Period

2023 – underway

Project description

The project aims to craft a comprehensive Tourism Master Plan (TMP) for two distinct zones: the Panjakent and Fann Mountains and the Khujand region, both identified as Tourism Development Areas (TDAs) by the 2021 National Sustainable Tourism Development Plan.

In summary, the assignment aims to create well-integrated, economically viable and regionally complementary TMPs for the two TDAs, taking into account a multitude of factors from legal requirements to market synergies, and to develop pre-feasibility studies for four anchor projects that are the most likely to bring about positive change.
The geographical scope of the project is well-defined:

• For the Panjakent and Fann Mountains TDA, the focus will be on urban and rural/small communities settlements between Panjakent and Ayni, with the Kuhistoni Mastchoh district to be considered as well as the Fann Mountain region, both to the east and to the west of the M34 highway, that is accessible by car for short trips from either Panjakent, Dushanbe or from Uzbekistan (Samarkand).
• For the Khujand TDA, the focus will be on areas including the Syrdarya Valley, the Qaraqum Sea to the east, and Istaravshan city to the south, within a drivable distance for day or weekend tourism from Khujand and Uzbekistan (Tashkent).

An important aspect of this assignment is to evaluate how these targeted tourism TDAs can complement existing markets in neighbouring Uzbekistan, specifically in cities like Samarkand and Tashkent, as well as Tajikistan’s own capital, Dushanbe. The plan aims to explore the potential of the Panjakent and Fann Mountains zone to function as a close satellite to the tourism markets of Samarkand and Dushanbe. Similarly, it will assess the capacity of the Khujand region to serve as a satellite to the tourism markets of Tashkent and of the Fergana Valley.

Moreover, the assignment will explore how these two TDAs can complement each other. This could, for example, involve the development of tourism circuits that connect these areas and/or identifying complementarities in the natural and/or cultural and/or historical assets. Beyond these synergies, the assignment will also assess the potential for each of these regions to stand alone as unique markets that can attract international, regional and domestic tourists.

Scope of Services

Inception, Strategic Analysis and Planning, Integrated Tourism Master Plan, Investment pre-feasibility studies