Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. The Tourism Council at the Mongolian National Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Mongolian Hotels Association jointly organized a “Winter Tourism: Problems and Solutions” discussion.

The marketing manager of the “Khan Khujirt” recreation and spa complex, D. Tserenpagma, suggested developing winter tourism through hot springs.

She noted, “Mongolia has many hot springs with high therapeutic efficiency, such as Shargaljuut in Bayankhongor, Hujirt in Uvurkhangai, Dadal and Binder in Khentii, and Janchivlan in Tuvaimag. It is possible to use these Hot-spring resorts to develop winter tourism. However, she emphasized the need to support health resorts operating separately to do business in a unified policy at the national level. This way, there originates another opportunity to develop winter tourism, disregarding the established concept that tourism is only done in the warm season.

She also pointed out that people are interested in going to a hot spring in the cold and coming out on the snow in foreign countries. This extreme type of tourism is especially developed in Scandinavian countries such as Finland, Norway, and Sweden, as well as in Germany and Japan.

She answered the following questions: “How many tourists do you receive for this type of travel?” “What needs to be done to develop a unified policy at the national level?”

- We have tourists who express their interest in hot spring resorts. We accept small numbers of tourists and are satisfied with our result, but we all must develop it. It will attract not only foreign tourists but also domestic tourists. At first, we must conduct a joint advertisement if we decide to do so. Second, we must research to find a unified route in this trend. Finally, it is crucial to train service specialists in this area.

According to a survey conducted on tourism, 60 percent of people who takes travel services usually choose their route based on what others have said or the “experience” of the people who have been there before and advertisements. In comparison, only 19 percent make their choice based on the name and brand of the travel agency. During the discussion, participants mentioned the importance of paying attention to the quality of service that creates a relationship, motivates the next tourists to come, and develops sustainable and steady tourism.

During the discussion, the participants made suggestions to coordinate the timing of tourism events, such as the winter ice festival, camel race, and ankle archery, to promote Mongolian customs and livelihoods by taking foreign and domestic tourists to rural and local areas during the Lunar New Year, and to serve at a single price as possible.