Tourism
From The Report: Mongolia 2014
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Visitor arrivals have jumped substantially in recent years, topping 475,000 in 2012, up 3.4% from the previous year and from less than 150,000 in 2000. As of mid-2013 the government has been working with the private sector to overhaul the country’s tourism regulatory regime and development strategy. In March 2013 the minister of culture, sports and tourism announced that the government had allocated $600,000 for tourism marketing in 2013, including $300,000 for promotional activities, $120,000 for international tours and expositions, and $180,000 for advertising. As of 2012 the industry’s direct economic contribution was 194m, or 2.3% of GDP. This figure was projected to rise by 7.2% in 2013 and by around 7% annually through to 2023. While major challenges remain – including how to attract visitors during the long, cold winter months – many local operators are broadly optimistic about the sector’s long-term potential.
This chapter contains an interview with Ts. Oyungerel, Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

New focus: The industry is looking forward to rising revenues for years to come
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Home to vast swathes of untouched land and numerous unique natural environments, Mongolia has immense mountain ranges in the north and the west, thousands of square kilometres of rolling steppe in the central and eastern part of the country, and the austere Gobi desert in the south. The nation also has a distinctive cultural heritage, which draws on traditional Central Asian nomadic culture, shamanism, Buddhism and the Soviet era, for example. With these assets in mind, Mongolia’s tourism sector…

Interview

Off the beaten track: OBG talks to Ts. Oyungerel, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism
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Interview:Oyungerel Tsedevdamba How can cooperation between different tourismbodies be improved to raise international awareness of Mongolia as a tourism destination? OYUNGEREL TSEDEVDAMBA: Our efforts are guided towards realising this. Mongolia is going to be the partner country for ITB Berlin 2015. We have tourism authorities established in everyprovince and the ministry has been actively working with several tourism-related and professionalassociations, like the…

Analysis

Zeroing in: The state is planning to invest in a handful of niche segments
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In a speech delivered at the most recent Mongolian Economic Forum, held in Ulaanbaatar in March 2013, Ts. Oyungerel, the minister of culture, sports and tourism, announced that the government was in the early stages of a plan to develop “special interest tourism” in a handful of key areas, with the long-term goal of boosting the sector’s overall contribution to GDP. Oyungerel identified a number of niche tourism segments that would likely benefit from government support in the coming years,…

Analysis

Coming in from the cold: A concerted effort to build up winter tourist arrivals and address related challenges is under way
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With temperatures generally hovering below freezing for nine months of the year, Mongolia is one of the planet’s coldest countries. The average temperature in Ulaanbaatar is -2.9°C, making it the coldest capital in the world, and the extreme climate represents a major challenge for tourism operators. Seasonality According to most local players, more than 75% of overall tourist arrivals in the country occur during the warm season, which stretches from June to September most years. The long off…