Representatives of over 50 mountain resorts and tourism development experts from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan,Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Uzbekistan, South Korea, and other countries gathered in Almaty to discuss strategic development issues and the creation of an interstate mountain tourist route.
The main discussions of the forum focused on the prospects of creating mountain clusters. They discussed the idea of connecting the territories from the Shymbulak resort to the Oy Karagay resort with a system of modern gondola lifts. It is planned that the lifts will connect several large mountain gorges around Almaty and form a single tourist zone with ski slopes and hiking trails.
Sergey Khvorostyan, Deputy General Director of Rosa Khutor Mountain Resort for International Relations and Tourism,shared with the summit participants the experience of creating the Sochi mountain cluster, where a unified ski pass for all resorts in the region has been successfully operating for several years. He also presented the investment project "Turyev Khutor," which is being implemented as part of the national project "Tourism and Hospitality Industry."
During the forum, experts noted that the task of creating mountain clusters is complex and multifaceted, requiring the participation of specialized companies and experts, investment capital, as well as efforts from government agencies. The exchange of best practices and competencies that have been accumulated in the Eurasian countries can be very useful in developing approaches to their creation, including the Almaty mountain cluster.
Rosa Khutor Mountain Resort is one of the founders and active members of the Eurasian Mountain Resorts Alliance (EMRA). During the forum, the organization's charter was solemnly signed - a set of fundamental principles, goals, and objectives of the EMRA. The most important principles of the Alliance's activities enshrined in the Charter are its political neutrality, non-bloc status, and independence of decisions.
Also, during the Summit, the heads of the mountain resorts included in the Eurasian Alliance signed a memorandum with the largest South Korean mountain resort Mona YongPyong on the intention to join the EMRA. Thus, the Alliance goes beyond the framework of cooperation within the CIS countries and becomes a sought-after international platform for resorts interested in joint progressive development.
As Sergey Khvorostyan, Deputy General Director of Rosa Khutor Mountain Resort for International Relations and Tourism, noted: "The Summit of the heads of EMRA resorts is an important platform for us, as the decisions made here can have a direct impact on the development of tourism in Eurasia. Firstly, we considered practical issues of all-season mountain cluster projects, the implementation of which will allow us to fully create an Interstate Mountain Tourist Route.In this regard, the experience of post-Olympic development of the Russian resort "Rosa Khutor" and plans for its continuation - the resort "Turyev Khutor" - are of particular importance. Secondly, the adopted EMRA Charter defined the most important strategic principles of the Alliance's activities. And, thirdly, the intention to become a member of the Alliance was demonstrated by the main Olympic resort of South Korea, Mona YongPyong, which once again confirms the international demand for our professional association."
In June 2023, the mountain resorts "Rosa Khutor" (Russia), "Shymbulak" (Kazakhstan), and "Amirsoy" (Uzbekistan) began joint work on the creation of the Eurasian Mountain Resorts Alliance (EMRA), which is designed to provide a platform for the strategic development of tourism in the Eurasian space, professional communication, promotion of best practices and brands of mountain resorts. In November of the same year, the Shahdag resort (Azerbaijan) joined this process, and in March 2024, the Oy-Karagay resort (Kazakhstan). Among the main goals of the alliance are the promotion of all-season mountain tourism and the popularization of an active lifestyle, the exchange of necessary information and best practices, the improvement of the professional qualifications of employees of mountain complexes, and the development of common approaches to safety standards. In March 2024, the Eurasian Mountain Resorts Festival was held for the first time at the Rosa Khutor resort, and in 2025, it is planned to be held at the Azerbaijani resort of Shahdag.
More information about the Eurasian Mountain Resorts Alliance: https://eagk.org
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