2011年-世界发展银行全球_Mongolia_Tourism_Sector_Policy_Note___Strengthening_Management_of_Natural_and_Cultural_Heritage_Assets_to_Scale-up_Tourism_and_Stimulate_Local_Economic_Opportunity_19页_639kb

Summary of Mongolia's Tourism Sector Policy Note

Core Content

Mongolia's tourism sector is positioned to support sustainable economic growth and diversification through its unique natural and cultural heritage. The country's vast, unspoiled landscapes and enduring nomadic lifestyle offer a competitive advantage, attracting international tourists. However, the sector faces significant challenges that hinder its full potential.

Main Views

• Natural and Cultural Heritage: Mongolia's natural and cultural sites (NCS) are a key asset for tourism. These include the Gobi Desert, Lake Khuvsgul, rare wildlife, and paleontological finds. These sites are not only globally significant but also support a living nomadic culture.

• Tourism Growth: Despite a short tourist season, the number of tourists has increased steadily over the past decade, with an average annual growth rate of nearly 15% between 2000 and 2007. Tourism contributes around 3.3% to GDP directly and up to 8.9% indirectly, making it the third-largest economic sector after agriculture and mining.

• Economic Contribution: Tourism generates about 29,000 direct jobs and 81,000 indirect jobs. It is also the third-largest producer of foreign exchange, with visitor exports expected to reach $306.3 million in 2010.

• Constraints to Growth: Key challenges include a harsh climate limiting the tourist season to June–August, limited international air access, poor infrastructure, weak service quality, and a lack of local economic linkages. These issues contribute to the centralization of tourism benefits and limited involvement of local communities in the sector.

Key Information

Competitive Advantages

• Unique Landscape and Culture: Mongolia's landscapes and nomadic lifestyle are unmatched globally, offering nature-based and cultural tourism opportunities.
• Domestic Flights: Reliable local domestic flight providers are a major advantage, especially for higher-end and specialty markets.
• Adventure Tourism: Mongolia's adventure-oriented tourism product portfolio includes horseback riding, trekking, fishing, and hunting, which are attractive to international visitors.

Challenges

• Short Tourist Season: Tourism is seasonal, with most activities concentrated in June–August, and operational costs are high during off-season.
• Infrastructure Limitations: Poor infrastructure, including roads and utility systems, is a challenge but also presents opportunities for developing exclusive, low-impact tourism.
• Service Quality and Standards: There is a lack of both governmental policies and industry-led guidelines to promote quality standards, and low awareness of what constitutes appropriate service culture.
• Workforce and Training: The tourism workforce is relatively young, inexperienced, and temporary, with limited formal training. Tourism is often seen as a stepping stone for international education and language training.
• Tourism Taxation and Distribution: Most tourism-related taxes are collected in Ulaanbaatar, despite the majority of tourist activities occurring outside the capital, leading to limited redistribution of economic benefits.

Policy Recommendations

• Develop Contemporary Tourism Policies: A unified national strategy involving both public and private stakeholders is needed to guide sustainable tourism development.
• Improve Taxation and Value Chains: Policies should encourage local taxation and value chain development to enhance local economic participation.
• Enhance Training and Education: Specialized training programs for local entrepreneurs and service providers should be established to improve business skills and service standards.
• Facilitate Access to Finance: A mechanism for easy and inexpensive financing for small and medium tourism enterprises is essential.
• Strengthen Site Management: Effective management plans and visitor infrastructure are necessary to protect natural and cultural sites while supporting tourism.
• Promote Private Concessions: Issuing private concessions for site management can improve infrastructure and services, with trust funds and NGO-led models being effective examples.

Tourism Demand and Market Trends

• Main Source Markets: Europe is the most important source market for leisure travel in terms of expenditures, followed by North America and Australia. Asian countries, particularly China and Russia, are the largest source of tourists in terms of numbers.
• Tour Packages: A significant share of international visitors travel through pre-booked tour packages, with an average cost of about $150 per day (excluding airfare).
• Travel Preferences: Different markets have distinct preferences. Asian tourists prefer cultural experiences and steppe exploration, while Europeans favor adventure and authenticity. Russians are interested in extreme tourism and hunting.

Tourism Statistics and Data Collection

• Data Sources: The National Statistics Office (NSO) provides tourism statistics based on border cards and business surveys. However, the data may not fully reflect the true economic impact of tourism due to the exclusion of hotels, restaurants, and transportation companies.
• Reliability of Numbers: Due to the registration of construction workers as leisure tourists, reported international arrival numbers are not entirely reliable. Actual leisure arrivals are estimated to be around 100,000 in 2009.

Economic and Social Impact

• Local Livelihoods: Tourism has the potential to improve local livelihoods through community-based initiatives. Successful examples show significant increases in household income, creating a win-win situation for both local communities and service providers.
• Economic Diversification: Tourism can help reduce economic dependence on mining and agriculture, contributing to a more balanced and sustainable economy.

Conclusion

To fully realize Mongolia's tourism potential, it is essential to improve management of natural and cultural heritage sites, enhance local economic participation, and address infrastructure and service quality issues. Strengthening policy frameworks and promoting public-private partnerships can lead to more sustainable and inclusive tourism development.